THE    MEMOIRS 

OF  THE 


BARONESS  CECILE  DE  COURTOT 

LADY-IN-WAITING  TO  THE  PRINCESS   DE  LAMBALLE 
PRINCESS  OF  SAVOY-CARIGNAN 


COMPILED  FROM  THE  LETTERS  OF  THE  BARONESS  TO  FRAU  VON 

ALVENSLEBEN,  NEE  BARONESS  LO£,  AND    'I HE 

DIARY  OF  THE  LATTER 

BY 
HER  GREAT-GRANDSON 

MORITZ  VON   KAISENBERG 

(MORITZ  VON  BERG) 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN 
BY 

JESSIE   HAYNES 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 

1900 


Copyright,  1900, 

BY 

HENRY  HOLT  &  CO. 


ROBERT   DRUMVOND.    PRINTER.    NEW  YORK. 


PREFACE. 

IN  an  attic  of  my  father's  house  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Halberstadt  there  stood,  among  other  out-of-date  and  disused 
furniture,  an  ancient  carved  oak  chest.  It  had  belonged  to  my 
mother's  grandmother,  and  on  its  lid  was  carved  the  name: 

Sophie  Hedwig  von  Alvensleben, 

verwittwete  [widowed]  von  Bulow-Gross-Schwechten,  geb.  [nee] 

von  Rauchhaupt  auf  Hohenthurm  u.  Landin. 

1692. 

That  was  the  mother  of  my  great-grandfather;  the  oak 
chest  might  therefore  well  command  our  veneration  as  a  family 
heirloom. 

On  the  rare  occasions  when  we  children  were  permitted  a 
peep  into  this  chest,  there  was  no  end  to  our  wonder  and  de- 
light; for  the  spirit  of  a  strange  and  by-gone  world  seemed  to 
breathe  from  it  and  the  marvellous  things  that  lay  therein.  It 
was  a  very  reliquary  in  our  childish  eyes. 

Then  very  carefully  with  those  dear  slender  hands  of  hers 
our  mother  would  lift  the  things  out  one  by  one — curiously 
fashioned  gowns  trimmed  with  real  old  point,  dainty  little 
ivory  fans,  potpourri  boxes  and  reticules,  embroidered  Pom- 
padour bags  with  their  varied  store  of  tiny  scissors,  tabatieres 

iii 


M167895 


IV  PREFACE. 

for  Spanish  snuff  and  the  like.  Besides  all  this  there  were 
ladies'  poetry  albums,  illuminated  prayer-books,  costumes 
and  fashion  plates — in  short,  the  chest  was  a  treasure-house  of 
bewildering  delights,  each  of  its  fair  owners,  as  it  was  handed 
down  from  one  generation  to  the  other,  having  stored  away 
in  it  what  seemed  of  special  value  in  her  eyes. 

On  the  death  of  my  beloved  mother,  this  treasure  passed 
into  my  hands.  It  was  a  frequent  and  never-failing  delight  to 
me  to  turn  over  its  contents,  and  one  day,  quite  at  the  bottom, 
under  a  quantity  of  old  documents,  I  chanced  upon  a  thick 
packet  of  letters  tied  together  with  a  blue  ribbon  and  having  on 
the  outside  wrapper  the  inscription : 

Cecile's  letters.    1801  and  1802. 

There  were  seventeen  in  all,  some  of  them  many  pages 
long,  written  in  French  on  stout — according  to  our  present 
ideas  coarse — paper,  dropping  to  decay,  torn  in  parts,  and  the 
writing  half  obliterated  with  age. 

I  began  to  decipher  them  and  discovered  that  they  were 
letters  from  the  Baroness  Cecile  de  Courtot,  one  time  dame 
d'atour  to  the  Princess  de  Lamballe,  to  my  great-grand- 
mother, Frau  Anna  Gottliebe  Luise  Wilhelmine  von  Alvens- 
leben,  nee  Freiin  von  Loe  of  Overdiek. 

But  this  was  not  my  only  treasure  trove.  Besides  many 
other  letters  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  century,  I  found 
a  red  velvet  book  bearing  on  its  cover  the  inscription  "  My 
Album."  In  this  book,  my  great-grandmother,  following  the 
fashion  of  her  day,  had  made  a  varied  collection  of  things  that 
had  struck  her  fancy.  Here  I  found  somewhat  overladen 
effusions  of  the  poets  of  the  time,  her  impressions  on  this  or 


PREFACE.  V 

the  other  subject,  and  accounts  of  the  various  important  days 
of  her  life.  By  degrees  the  contents  of  the  book  assumed  the 
character  of  a  "  diary,"  as  we  should  call  it  now-a-days,  though 
in  reality  it  is  more  than  that,  for  it  includes  conversations  and 
descriptions  of  persons  interesting  to  her,  records  important 
events  that  happened  to  them,  and  a  multitude  of  other  at- 
tractive matter  not  connected  with  herself. 

What  makes  the  book  of  special  value  in  my  eyes,  how- 
ever, is  that  it  supplements  the  above-mentioned  letters  and 
helps  one  to  thoroughly  understand  many  of  the  occurrences 
of  those  days.  Added  to  which,  its  pages  reveal  the  deep  feel- 
ing and  noble  character  of  my  great-grandmother,  a  woman 
who  for  culture,  charm,  and  lovable  disposition  ranked  high 
in  the  opinion  of  her  contemporaries  and  whose  memory  is 
still  green  in  the  family  at  the  present  day. 

This  diary  is  also  written  in  French,  which  may  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  of  my  great-grandmother  having  been 
brought  up  in  a  French  convent  in  Holland;  besides  that,  in 
those  days,  it  was  the  language  of  social  intercourse  in  the 
upper  classes. 

Thus,  from  the  following  translation  of  the  diary  and  the 
letters,  I  have  endeavoured  to  construct  a  faithful  picture  of 
those  times  and  the  persons  mentioned. 

The  Baroness  Cecile  de  Courtot  lived  for  eight  years  in 
the  house  of  my  great-grandparents  at  Kalbe  on  the  Milde. 
She  had  been  an  eye-witness  of  the  French  Revolution,  a 
sorely  tried  victim  in  the  days  of  the  Terror,  and  her  position 
and  rank  brought  her  in  contact  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
I.  and  many  famous  personages  of  that  period. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.      . 

THE  HOME  OF  MY  GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. 

PACK 

History  of  the  Family  of  von  Alvensleben.  Werner  IV.  von  Alvens- 
leben.  First  War  of  the  Coalition  against  France.  Overdiek  Castle. 
Werner  makes  the  acquaintance  of  Anna  Gottliebe  von  Log  and  loves 
her.  He  is  wounded  before  Verdun.  Is  nursed  at  Overdiek.  Werner 
leaves  the  army  and  marries  Annaliebe  von  Loe.  Their  home  at  Kalbe.. . .  I 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

Annaliebe' s  Diary.  Frau  von  Bismarck- Schonhausen.  Old  Herr  von 
Briest.  The  Poet  Gleim.  The  Pastors  and  their  families.  The  War. 
Arrival  of  a  letter  from  Major  von  Rauchhaupt  in  Roermonde  in  which  he 
begs  the  young  couple  to  receive  an  emigrje,  the  Baroness  de  Courtot. 
They  decide  to  do  so 7 

CHAPTER  III. 
CECILE'S  ARRIVAL. 

Journey  of  the  Alvenslebens  to  Magdeburg  and  Cecile's  reception  in 
Kalbe.  Remarks  in  Annaliebe' s  Diary  on  the  appearance  and  character 
of  the  Baroness.  Her  severe  illness.  Annaliebe' s  devotion  to  her  and 
her  gradual  recovery 19 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CECILE. 

Extracts  from  Annaliebe' s  Diary  concerning  Cecile's  state  of  mind. 
Birth  of  a  daughter  to  the  Alvenslebens.  The  young  mother  nursed  in 
her  turn  by  Cecile.  The  christening.  Gleim' s  visit  to  Kalbe.  Annaliebe 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS, 

PACB 

expatiates  on  the  joys  of  motherhood.  Cecile  insists  on  paying  board. 
She  wishes  to  sell  her  jewels.  The  War.  Letter  from  Colonel  von 
Rauchhaupt  announcing  his  approaching  visit.  His  arrival.  He  pro- 
poses to  Cecile,  but  is  rejected.  Cecile' s  renewed  melancholy 26 

CHAPTER  V. 

CECILE'S    STORY. 

Her  home  and  her  parents.  Her  playfellow,  Hector  de  Trellissac. 
Her  appointment  as  Lady-in-waiting  to  the  Princess  de  Lamballe. 
Previous  history  of  Princess.  Philippe  of  Orleans.  The  Castle  of  Gen6vais. 
Original  letter  from  Marie  Antoinette  to  the  Princess  begging  her  to  return 
to  the  Court.  Arrival  of  the  Princess  and  Cecile  in  Paris.  The  Queen. 
The  Court.  Letter  written  by  the  Arch- Duchess  Marie  Antoinette  to  the 
Dauphin  on  their  betrothal.  The  Queen's  fondness  for  fashion.  Her 
friends.  The  Revolution.  Riotous  scenes  in  Versaillas.  Heroic  conduct 
of  the  Queen.  The  Court  transferred  to  Paris.  Cecile  meets  the  Vicomte 
Hector  de  Trellissac  again  as  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Queen's  Dragoons  at  the 
Tuileries.  Their  dawning  love.  Their  betrothal 43 

CHAPTER  VI. 
CECILE'S  STORY. 

Further  advance  of  the  Revolution.  The  Princess  de  Lamballe, 
accompanied  by  Cecile,  goes  to  London  on  behalf  of  the  Queen  to  beg  for 
help  from  the  Government.  Fruitless  efforts.  Letter  from  Marie  Antoinette 
to  the  Princess.  Forged  command  to  return.  The  journey  back  and 
arrival  in  Paris.  Cecile  manages  to  save  her  valuables.  Description  of 
the  horrors  in  Paris.  Death  of  Cecile' s  mother.  The  Princess  and  Cecile 
take  refuge  in  the  Temple  where  the  Royal  Family  are  imprisoned.  Sur- 
prise of  the  Queen  at  their  return.  The  Princess  is  transferred  to  the 
prison  of  La  Force,  and  Cecile  to  the  Abbaye  St.  Germain.  The  decapitated 
head  of  the  Princess  de  Lamballe  is  carried  past  the  Queen's  windows  in 
Cecile's  presence.  Account  of  the  Princess'  trial,  her  acquittal,  and  sub- 
sequent murder 62 

CHAPTER  VII. 
CECILE'S  STORY. 

Account  of  her  imprisonment  in  the  Temple.  Her  illness.  She  is 
brought  before  the  tribunal  and  condemned  to  death.  On  the  way  to  the 
guillotine  she  is  liberated  through  a  bold  device  of  her  lover.  Hector 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PACE 

is  killed,  but  Cecile  is  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety  by  the  Chevalier 
Tancred  d'Aubignac.  Her  flight  from  Paris  and  arrival  in  Roermonde. 
Conclusion  of  Cecile's  narrative 75 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  YEARS   1795   AND   1796. 

Werner's  first  Letter  from  Berlin.  Account  of  the  journey,  Life  in 
Berlin.  The  Court  of  Frederick  William  II.  Sale  of  Cecile's  jewels  to  the 
Court  jeweller.  The  Countess  Lichtenau.  The  Marquise  de  Navaillac. 
Werner's  second  letter.  'Life  at  Court.  Laxity  of  morals.  The  Countess 
Donhoff.  Countess  Lichtenau' s  power.  The  Crown-Princess  Luise. 
Description  of  an  assembly  at  the  Queen's.  Details  concerning  various 
persons  mentioned  in  the  letters.  Celebration  of  Annaliebe's  birthday. 
The  Lamballe  screen 90 

CHAPTER   IX. 
CECILE'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SCANDAL  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

Cardinal  Rohan.  The  adventuress  Lamotte-Valois.  The  intrigue 
with  the  necklace  in  the  Park  of  Versailles.  The  courtesan  Oliva  per- 
sonates Marie  Antoinette.  The  trial.  Two  letters  from  the  Queen  to 
her  sister  the  Princess  Marie  Christine  of  Sachsen-Teschen  on  the  subject 
of  the  necklace.  Conclusion  of  the  account.  Letter  to  Cecile  from  the 
Duchess  Edmee  de  Brancas  in  Paris 105 

CHAPTER   X. 

THE  YEARS    1797   AND    1798. 

Annaliebe  and  Cecile  go  to  Helgoland  accompanied  by  Herr  von 
Briest.  Return  to  Kalbe.  Second  letter  from  the  Duchess.  The  state  of 
affairs  in  Paris.  The  i8th  Fructidor.  Barras.  General  Bonaparte.  Festi- 
val at  the  Luxembourg  in  Bonaparte's  Honour.  Madame  de  Beauharnais. 
Anecdotes  of  Bonaparte  in  Brienne.  Bonaparte's  order  of  the  day  to  the 
Army  of  Italy.  Modes 121 

CHAPTER  XI. 

EVENTS  OF  THE  YEARS    1798  AND   l8oO. 

The  Alvenslebens  take  the  Baroness  to  Berlin.  Adjutant- General  von 
Kockeritz.  The  King's  birthday.  Twenty  Alvenslebens  present.  Account 
in  Annaliebe's  Diary  of  the  doings  in  Berlin.  Birthday  audience  at  Court. 
Cecile  and  Annaliebe  presented.  Addressed  by  Queen  Luise.  Cercle. 


X  CONTENTS. 

PACK 

Seven  Mesdames  von  Alvensleben.  Princess  Radzivill.  Baron  d'Orville. 
Small  soiree  in  the  Palace.  The  sweet  and  charming  Queen.  Wilhelm 
von  Humboldt.  Count  Arnim.  Philipp  Alvensleben  gives*  an  Alvensleben 
dinner.  Letter  from  the  Duchess  Edm6e  describing  Talleyrand.  Cecile 
remarks  upon  the  resemblance  between  the  French  and  Prussian  Royalties. 
Phillinchen's  tutor  Vultejus.  Letter  from  Cecile' s  cousin  in  Brussels. 
Cecile' s  letter  to  the  Duchess  begging  her  for  advice  as  to  the  best  means 
of  obtaining  the  restitution  of  her  family  estates 128 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  YEAR    l8oO  AND  BEGINNING  OF   l8oi. 

Some  account  of  affairs  in  France.  Bonaparte's  return  from  Egypt. 
His  arrival  in  Paris.  The  l8th  Brumaire.  The  new  Directorate.  Bona- 
parte named  First  Consul.  The  3d  Vend&niaire.  Decrees  of  the  Consul. 
Victories  over  Austria.  Marengo.  Third  letter  from  the  Duchess  to 
Cecile.  Bonaparte.  His  Court.  His  endeavours  to  attract  the  old 
nobility.  Barras  in  Pierrefitte.  Edm6e's  proposal  that  Cecile  should  come 
to  Paris.  Annaliebe's  grief  at  the  thought  of  losing  Cecile.  Cecile's 
resolve  to  return  to  Paris.  Her  departure  from  Kalbe 138 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
CECILE'S  FIRST  LETTER  TO  ANNALIEBE. 

Her  journey  to  Cassel  by  Halberstadt.  Frau  von  Spiegel.  Frau  von 
Brankoni.  Arrival  in  Cassel.  Description  of  the  festivities  attendant  on 
the  marriage  of  the  Princess  of  Hesse.  Annaliebe's  Diary.  Her  grief  at 
Cecile's  absence.  The  Temple  of  Friendship 149 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
CECILE'S  SECOND  LETTER. 

Journey  to  Strasburg.  Short  stay  in  Mainz.  Arrival  in  Strasburg. 
Description  of  the  town.  The  Minster.  The  telegraph  to  Paris.  New 
Year  according  to  the  new  regulations 158 


CHAPTER  XV. 
CECILE'S  THIRD  LETTER. 

The  journey  continued.  Zabern,  the  Castle  of  the  Rohan-Gue'me- 
nees.  Table-d'hote  at  Chalons.  Conversation  between  the  French  Lieute- 
nants about  Bonaparte.  Observations  on  Napoleon's  family 163 


CONTENTS.  xi 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
CECILE'S  FOURTH  LETTER. 

PACK 

Arrival  in  Paris.  The  Duchess  is  away  from  home.  Cecile  takes 
rooms  in  the  Hotel  Grange-Bateillere.  Account  of  the  prices  and  of  life  in 
general  in  Paris.  Visit  to  the  Theatre  Feydeau 172 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
CECILE'S  FIFTH  LETTER. 

Cecile  returns  to  the  Palais  Brancas.  Her  rooms  here.  Napoleon's 
portrait  by  Greuze.  The  Duchess  Edmee's  joy  at  meeting  her  friend 
once  more.  They  drive  about  Paris.  The  Place  de  la  Concorde,  Place 
Royal e,  etc.  Robespierre's  body  placed  in  the  coffin  of  Louis  XVI.  Cecile' s 
visits  to  her  old  nurse.  Pere  la  Chaise  cemetery.  The  grave  of  Cecile's 
Mother.  Warrant  for  the  execution  of  Robespierre 177 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
CECILE'S  SIXTH  LETTER. 

Visit  to  the  prisons  of  La  Force  and  the  Temple.  The  spot  where 
Cecile's  rescue  took  place.  The  Bastille.  She  meets  other  returned 
emigres  and  old  friends.  Annaliebe's  Diary  :  Christmas  Eve  at  Kalbe. 
Sophie  von  Liideritz , 186 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CECILE'S  SEVENTH  LETTER. 

Visit  to  the  Marquise  de  Montesson.  The  other  guests.  The  Ambas- 
sador Luchesini.  The  Prince  de  Poix.  The  Legitimists  and  their  position 
towards  the  First  Consul.  The  Prince  de  Poix's  anecdotes  of  the  First 
Consul.  Madame  Tallien.  Madame  de  Talleyrand.  Madame  de  Stael. 
The  Italian  Opera.  La  Molinera.  Attempt  on  the  life  of  the  First  Consul. 
Fashion.  Skit  on  the  Incroyables.  Remarks  by  the  editor  on  several 
foregoing  personages 190 

CHAPTER  XX. 
CECILE'S  EIGHTH  LETTER. 

Bonaparte  holds  a  parade  in  front  of  the  Tuileries.  Corso  at  Long- 
champs.  Fashions.  Gentlemen's  hats 199 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

CECILE'S  NINTH  LETTER. 

PAGE 

Visit  to  Talleyrand.  Description  of  the  Minister.  Caricatures  of  him. 
Talleyrand  mentions  the  name  of  Trellissac.  Cecile's  surprise.  Talley- 
rand's remarks  on  Napoleon  and  Josephine.  Madame  Grant 203 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
CECILE'S  TENTH  LETTER. 

Her  audience  with  Josephine  has  to  be  put  off  on  account  of  an 
accident  to  the  latter  lady.  Cecile's  costume  for  the  audience.  Napoleon's 
portrait  by  David.  The  Carnival.  Germans  in  Paris.  French  literature. 
Garnerius  and  his  balloon 213 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
CECILE'S  ELEVENTH  LETTER. 

Audience  at  Malmaison.  Description  of  the  Park  and  the  Castle. 
Meeting  with  a  cavalcade  consisting  of  Hortense  Beauharnais,  Caroline 
Bonaparte,  Murat,  the  Prince  de  Poix.  The  Marquis  de  Coulaincourt. 
Madame  de  Campan.  Madame  Hamelin,  Madame  Junot,  Madame  Tallien, 
Adele  Talhuet.  Cecile's  reception  by  Madame  Josephine.  Her  beauty 
and  charm.  Madame  Hamelin  relates  an  anecdote  of  Napoleon  in  Italy. 
Adele  Talhue't  tells  Cecile  her  story.  Remarks  on  Malmaison 221 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
CECILE'S  TWELFTH  LETTER. 

Dejeuner  at  Madame  Josephine's.  Hortense  Beauharnais,  Caroline 
Murat,  General  Murat.  Observations  on  Hortense' s  marriage  with  Louis 
Bonaparte.  Murat' s  affectations,  his  dress,  etc.  Josephine's  walk  with  Cecile 
in  the  Park  at  Malmaison.  Napoleon's  bells.  His  fatalism.  Lucian 
Bonaparte.  Private  theatricals  in  which  Eugene  Beauharnais  and  Hortense 
take  part.  Madame  Josephine  promises  to  recommend  Cecile's  petition  to 
Napoleon.  Napoleon's  brothers  and  sisters 235 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
CECILE'S  THIRTEENTH  LETTER. 

Her  change  of  view  regarding  the  First  Consul.  The  Concordat. 
Balls  in  Paris.  Dancing.  The  Prince  de  Poix.  The  Theatre  Royal 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAGE 

Iphigenia  in  Tauris.  Talma  as  Orestes.  Cecile' s  nervousness  about  the 
audience.  Frascati's.  "Delphine"  by  Madame  de  Stael.  Luxury  in 
dress  displayed  by  the  ladies  of  Paris 245 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
CECILE'S  FOURTEENTH  LETTER. 

Cecile  receives  the  command  to  the  audience.  The  Tuileries.  The 
Antechamber.  The  Ministers  Talleyrand,  Berthier,  Regnier.  Monsieur 
Dejean,  Marcel.  Adjutant- General  Duroc.  The  audience.  Description 
of  Napoleon.  Cecile  offers  her  petition.  She  recognises  in  Bonaparte  a 
schoolboy  at  Brienne  who  once  saved  her  life.  Cecile  relates  two  stories 
to  the  Consul.  Napoleon  recognises  Cecile.  Familiar  conversation  between 
them  on  Napoleon's  past  and  his  belief  in  his  star.  Cecile' s  return  to  her 
friend.  Their  conversation  on  the  strange  events  of  the  day.  The  fortunes 
told  to  Josephine  and  Napoleon.  Napoleon's  belief  in  Kismet 252 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CECILE'S  FIFTEENTH  LETTER. 

Her  change  of  fortune.  Invitations  to  many  receptions.  The  theatre. 
The  dancer  Gardel  and  the  ballet.  "La  chasse  du  jeune  Henri."  The 
Pantheon.  Tombs  of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau.  The  English  in  Paris.  Ex- 
hibition of  natural  products  in  the  Louvre.  Mademoiselle  Duch6nois  as 
Phedre  at  the  Theatre  Frangais.  Fouche.  The  Prince  de  Poix's  highly 
spiced  stories.  Fashions  in  gentlemen's  hats.  Excessive  rouging  of  the 
ladies .  266 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CECILE'S  SIXTEENTH  LETTER. 

Her  journey  into  the  Vendee,  where  her  estates  are  situated.  Account 
of  the  Chouans  and  their  struggles.  The  castles  of  Mont  Courtot  and  Re- 
trazet.  The  unfaithful  bailiff.  Cecile  visits  the  scenes  of  her  youth.  She 
returns  to  Paris.  Second  audience  with  the  Consul.  Received  at  St.  Cloud 
by  Madame  Josephine.  Marie  Antoinette's  furniture  in  the  drawing-room. 
Napoleon  speaks  again  of  his  former  life.  Cecile  has  to  tell  of  her  adven- 
tures and  her  rescue  from  death  by  Hector  de  Trellissac.  The  ceremony  of 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Church  at  Notre- Dame.  Cecile  present  by 
invitation  as  guest  of  the  First  Consul 270 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CECILE'S  SEVENTEENTH  LETTER.     THE  LAST  OF  THE  COLLECTION. 

FAGS 

Return  ot  the  troops  from  Egypt.  Their  reception  by  the  First  Consul. 
Assemblee  at  the  Marquise  de  Noailles's.  The  "parlour  game'*  of 
mystification.  Cecile  joins  in  the  game.  Unexpected  appearance  of  a  one- 
eyed  officer  in  the  uniform  of  the  Chasseurs  d'Afrique.  She  recognises  her 
lover.  Overwhelming  joy  of  the  pair.  Trellissac  relates  his  experiences 
after  his  well-nigh  fatal  wound  and  his  subsequent  fighting  in  Egypt. 
Cecile' s  plans  for  the  future.  Annaliebe's  Diary:  Reflections  on  her  friend's 
amazing  experiences.  Birth  of  a  son  to  the  Alvenslebens.  They  are  thus 
unable  to  be  present  at  Cecile' s  marriage  with  the  Vicomte  de  Trellissac  in 
Paris.  On  the  9th  of  June,  1803,  Annaliebe  receives  the  sad  news  or 
Cecile' s  death  two  days  after  giving  birth  to  a  daughter 279 


BARONESS  CECILE  DE  COURTOT. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE    HOME   OF   MY   GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. 

THE  Castle  of  Kalbe  on  the  Milde  in  Altmark  is  a  very 
ancient  possession  of  the  von  Alvensleben  family.  In  1324,  the 
Margrave  Ludwig  of  Brandenburg  bought  it  of  the  von 
Kroechers  and  made  it  the  ancestral  seat  of  the  so-called 
"  black  line  "  of  the  great  Alvensleben  clan,  already  possessed 
of  extensive  property  in  the  Altmark  and  the  Mark  Branden- 
burg. 

None  of  the  family  archives  go  further  back  than  1400;  any 
records  before  then  belong  to  legendary  history.  Thus  tradi- 
tion says  that  the  first  Count  Alvensleben  was  a  descendant 
of  that  Alvoni  who  in  779  embraced  Christianity.  The  strong- 
hold of  "  Alvonslowe  "  must  have  stood  where  the  village  of 
Alvensleben  now  lies,  and  thus  the  family  of  that  name  is  one 
of  the  oldest  in  the  district. 

They  had,  from  time  immemorial,  been  great  landed  pro- 
prietors, and  even  the  father  of  my  great-grandfather — Werner 
III. — owned,  besides  the  family  seat  of  Kalbe,  the  domains  of 
Klotze,  Isenschnibbe,  Dember,  and  several  others. 


2^       •-•TH^HOME  OF  MY  GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. 

He  divided  his  estates  among  his  four  sons,  and  the  so- 
called  "  Grosses  Vorwerk  " — the  Great  Manor  House — at 
Kalbe  fell  to  the  share  of  my  great-grandfather,  Werner  IV., 
who  was  born  in  1752  and  served  as  an  officer  in  Kracht's  regi- 
ment of  infantry. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution,  Austria, 
alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the  royal  house  so  closely  related 
to  her  own,  declared  war  on  the  lawless  insurgents  in  Paris, 
1792. 

Prussia  was  at  that  time  in  high  favour  with  France,  and  the 
memory  of  the  Great  Frederick,  in  spite  of  the  defeat  at 
Rosbach, — probably  on  account  of  the  king's  infatuation  for 
everything  French, — was  greatly  revered  in  Paris.  Again,  the 
French  regarded  Prussia  as  their  natural  ally  in  the  main- 
tenance of  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe;  indeed  negotia- 
tions for  an  alliance  were  actually  entered  upon  between  the 
leaders  of  the  revolutionary  party  and  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment, based  no  doubt  upon  the  supposition  that  a  constant 
rivalry  must  exist  between  the  successors  of  Maria  Theresa 
and  those  of  Frederick  the  Great  for  the  overlordship  of  Ger- 
many. 

Nothing,  however,  was  further  from  the  intentions  of  Fred- 
erick William  II.  than  to  range  himself  on  the  side  of  the 
revolutionaries,  seeing  that  he  regarded  even  a  constitutional 
government  as  a  danger  to  the  monarchy.  Accordingly  he 
rejected  the  French  overtures  with  scorn,  joined  the  Coalition 
and  declared  war  against  France  on  February  7,  1792. 

Austria  set  about  her  war  preparations  in  her  usual  dilatory 
manner,  and  it  was  June  before  some  50,000  Austrian  troops 
were  massed  on  the  Middle  Rhine,  while  a  Prussian  army 
corps  marched  upon  Cologne  and  Coblenz  in  three  columns. 


MEETING  OF  ANNALIEBE  AND  WERNER.  3 

To  the  first — the  most  northerly — of  these  three  columns  be- 
longed Kracht's  infantry  regiment  in  which  my  great-grand- 
father, Lieutenant-Captain  von  Alvensleben,  was  serving.  The 
route  of  this  column  lay  through  Westphalia  and  the  Mark 
districts.  Here,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dortmund,  lay  Over- 
diek,  the  old  estate  of  the  family  von  Loe,  where  my  great- 
grandfather was  presently  quartered  and  so  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Anna  Gottliebe,  the  only  child  of  the  Freiherr 
Johann  Moritz  von  Loe,  and  won  her  young  affections. 

The  girl,  then  in  her  twenty-first  year  and  the  last  of  this 
line  of  the  great  house  of  Loe,  was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  had 
been  brought  up  and  educated,  after  the  fashion  of  her  day,  in 
a  French  convent  in  Holland.  On  the  death  of  her  mother  she 
returned  to  Overdiek,  and  had  scarcely  been  outside  her  native 
place  since  then.  She  was  the  idol  of  her  old  father,  whose 
only  regret  was  that  she  was  not  a  boy  and  the  estate  must 
therefore  go  at  his  death  to  the  Rhenish  line  of  the  Loes. 

And  now  young  Anna  Gottliebe — or  Annaliebe,  as  she  was 
generally  called — gave  her  heart  to  Werner  despite  his  twenty 
years  of  seniority,  and  the  lovers  hoped  in  time  to  obtain  the 
old  father's  consent  to  their  union  notwithstanding  their  dif- 
ference of  faith.  When  the  regiment  resumed  its  march,  they 
parted  with  mutual  assurances  of  undying  love  and  vows  that 
nothing  in  this  world  should  finally  separate  them. 

And  yet  it  very  nearly  came  to  that,  for  Werner  von  Al- 
vensleben received  a  severe  bullet-wound  in  the  chest  during  a 
skirmish  of  the  advance  guard  at  the  siege  of  Verdun.  He 
was  brought  with  a  sick-transport  to  Cologne,  whence,  at  his 
daughter's  urgent  entreaty,  old  Baron  Loe  had  him  transferred 
to  Overdiek. 

Annaliebe's  nursing  did  wonders,  and  the  invalid  soon  re- 


4  THE  HOME  OF  MY  GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. 

covered  sufficiently — not  for  military  service,  but  to  be  able  to 
enter  into  possession  of  the  estate  at  Kalbe,  the  death  of  his 
father  having  occurred  meanwhile.  The  old  Baron  must  have 
had  opportunities  during  these  days  of  Werner's  illness  to  con- 
vince himself  of  his  worth  as  well  as  of  the  sincere  attachment 
between  the  two  lovers,  for  he  gave  them  his  blessing  and 
promised  them  a  speedy  union. 

Meanwhile,  the  inglorious  campaign  against  France  came 
to  an  end ;  the  Prussian  troops  returned  home  without  effect- 
ing any  of  the  objects  for  which  they  had  been  called  out,  and 
were  put  once  more  on  a  peace  footing;  and  Werner  von 
Alvensleben  obtained  his  discharge  with  the  rank  of  Captain. 

A  heavy  cloud  seemed  to  weigh  upon  Prussia  in  those 
days.  The  military  renown  of  the  Great  Frederick's  army  was 
utterly  annihilated  by  the  dilatory,  vacillating  generalship  of 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick.  With  his  undisciplined  rabble  Gen- 
eral Dumouriez  had  defeated  the  veterans  of  the  great  king — 
reckoned  hitherto  invincible — and  had  driven  them  back  upon 
the  Rhine  through  the  passes  of  Grandpre.  "  See,"  whispered 
many  a  man  then  to  his  neighbour,  "the  Marseillaise  has  beaten 
Prussian  strategy;  it  would  seem  that  the  republic  is,  after  all, 
the  best  form  of  government."  Murmurs  such  as  these  might 
have  been  heard  even  in  Berlin,  and  a  great  wave  came  surging 
across  the  Rhine  only  to  break  at  last  against  the  old  Prussian 
provinces — Brandenburg,  Altmark,  Pommern — that  stood  by 
the  Monarchy  firm  as  a  rocher  dc  bronze. 

All  through  that  winter  Werner  von  Alvensleben  devoted 
himself  energetically  to  the  duties  of  his  estate.  He  soon  re- 
covered completely  from  his  wound  and  was  very  busy  adorn- 
ing the  nest  for  his  Annaliebe,  whom  he  looked  forward  to 
bringing  home  in  the  early  spring. 


THE  HOME  AT  KALBE.  5 

Suddenly,  in  January  1793,  came  the  news  of  Baron  Loe's 
serious  illness.  Werner  instantly  set  out  for  Overdiek,  but  ar- 
rived only  just  in  time  to  close  the  old  father's  eyes,  whose  last 
loving  glances  had  been  for  his  two  children. 

The  Overdiek  estate  passed  to  the  Rhenish  cousins,  while 
Annaliebe  received  the  not  inconsiderable  unentailed  property. 
Accompanied  by  an  old  aunt,  a  Fraulein  von  Liining,  she  then 
left  her  home  and  went  to  Kloster  Roda.  Here  she  was  in- 
structed in  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestant  Church,  was  received 
into  that  communion,  and  on  June  24th  laid  her  hand,  for 
better  for  worse,  in  that  of  her  beloved  Werner. 

From  my  grandmother's  descriptions  and  even  my 
mother's,  who  had  seen  it  as  a  child,  the  Great  Manor  House 
in  Kalbe  was  a  rambling  and  spacious  abode  of  one  storey 
only,  built  high  and  dry  over  the  cellars,  and  in  parts  still 
thatched  with  straw.  But  there  was  all  the  more  room  in  it, 
and  the  pleasant  attic  guest-chambers  under  its  high-pitched 
roof  were  in  great  request  among  the  numerous  relatives  of 
the  family. 

High  thinking  and  gentle  manners  had  ever  been  the  rule 
in  the  dear  old  house,  but  the  style  of  living  was  of  the  plainest. 
The  long  wars  under  Frederick  the  Great  had  drained  the 
pecuniary  resources  of  the  country,  and  life  on  one  of  these 
baronial  estates  differed,  in  those  days,  in  hardly  any  respect 
from  that  of  the  plain  burgher  households. 

There  was  no  question  of  a  great  retinue  of  servants;  an 
old  coachman,  Johann,  who  had  been  twenty-five  years  in  the 
family,  and  a  few  maids  formed  the  entire  establishment,  and 
the  scale  of  living  was  proportionately  simple. 

And  yet  how  charming  and  homelike  the  old  house  must 
have  been  with  its  wide  hall,  the  ceiling  hung  with  harvest 


6  THE  HOME  OF  MY  GREAT-GRANDPARENTS. 

garlands,  and  the  walls  with  portraits  of  the  ancestors — some 
of  them  in  knightly  armour  with  great  plumes  on  their  steel 
helmets,  and  the  ladies  with  white  veils  on  their  almost  in- 
variable golden  locks  ! 

These  ladies,  as  appeared  from  their  coats  of  arms  on  the 
pictures,  all  belonged  to  Altmark  and  Brandenburg  families, 
and  the  same  names,  Liideritz,  Arnim,  Kroecher,  Schulenburg, 
and  so  forth,  occurred  over  and  over  again,  so  that  the  whole 
countryside  might  in  truth  be  said  to  form  one  great  family. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   EARLY   MARRIED   LIFE   OF  THE 
VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

ON  the  3d  of  July  the  young  couple  made  their  entry  into 
the  festively  garlanded  house,  and  on  the  evening  of  this  day 
my  great-grandmother  makes  the  first  mention  of  her  newly 
wedded  life  in  her  diary.  Her  words  convey  very  happily  the 
childlike  piety  of  her  temperament  and  her  ardent  affection 
for  her  husband.  She  writes,  as  I  have  said,  in  French. 

July  3,  1793. 

O  dear  and  beautiful  house,  from  henceforth  to  be  my 
cherished  home!  My  whole  heart  goes  out  to  thee  in  greet- 
ing! I  cannot  let  this  first  evening  pass  without  setting  down 
in  these  pages  how  great  my  happiness  is.  My  heart  is  quite, 
quite  full,  for  God  has  given  me  the  best,  the  noblest  man  in 
all  the  world  for  my  husband.  How  I  love  thee,  dear  old 
house,  with  all  thy  countless  nooks  and  crannies  out  of  which 
I  seem  to  see  the  little  kindly  brownies  peep  who  have  worked 
so  blithely  for  the  long  line  of  my  dear  Werner's  forefathers. 
Oh,  receive  me  too,  the  stranger,  as  a  familiar  friend!  I  will 
be  a  good  housewife  to  you  and  strive  to  follow  worthily  in  the 
footsteps  of  those  who  have  gone  before  me. 

But  to  Thee,  my  great  and  heavenly  Father,  I  pray — take 

7 


8     EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  QF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

not  my  Werner  from  me.  Never  would  another  moment's 
happiness  be  mine  were  I  to  lose  him.  Let  Thy  blessing  be 
upon  me,  O  my  God,  that  I  may  live  to  repay  my  Werner  for 
all  his  love  to  me. 

ANNA  GOTTLIEBE. 

And  thus  my  great-grandparents  began  their  married  life 
so  full  of  tender  affection  and  unity  of  soul.  The  first  few 
weeks  they  lived  to  each  other  alone  and  the  dear  delights  of 
their  new  companionship,  but  presently  they  were  obliged  to 
bethink  them  of  their  social  obligations  to  the  immense  circle 
of  relatives.  First  upon  the  list  stood  old  Uncle  von  Briest 
and  the  Luderitz  family,  then  the  Borstels,  the  Kroechers,  the 
Bismarcks,  and  a  host  of  others,  and  it  was  weeks  before  the 
newly  wedded  couple  finished  their  round  of  visits.  The  diary 
contains  the  whole  list,  and  such  a  tour  can  have  been  no  slight 
strain  upon  the  young  wife,  for  under  the  last  name — that  of 
old  Aunt  von  Kroecher — she  writes :  "  Thank  Heaven,  it  is 
over!"  Truly— 

"  Go  East,  go  West, 
At  home  is  best." 

This  light-hearted  and  yet  so  practical  great-grandmother 
of  mine  must  have  been  a  very  bewitching  little  lady.  The 
pastel  portrait  we  possess  gives  but  an  inadequate  idea  of  her. 
At  any  rate,  my  dear  mother  always  declared  that  the  picture 
in  no  way  did  justice  to  her  beauty.  Her  eyes,  in  particular, 
which  were  intensely  blue  though  they  could,  at  times,  look 
almost  black,  must  have  been  wonderfully  beautiful  with  her 
red-gold  hair.  The  poet  Gleim,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
the  house,  frequently  came  over  from  Halberstadt  and  stayed 


ANNALIEBE'S  DIARV.  £ 

for  days  at  a  time,  and  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  fair 
chatelaine. 

The  turmoil  and  bustle  of  the  return  visits  once  over,  the 
enormous  circle  of  acquaintances  narrowed  down  to  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  families  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood, on  whom  Annaliebe  bestowed  her  more  intimate 
friendship. 

Those  were  still  the  "  good  "  old  days — the  days  of  blithe 
and  simple  home  life,  of  the  cultivation  of  an  exaggerated  sen- 
timentality and  perfervid  romance,  such  as  is  hardly  con- 
ceivable in  the  present  day. 

At  that  time  there  were  two  persons — besides  her  Werner — 
for  whom  my  great-grandmother  had  formed  an  enthusiastic 
attachment,  namely,  dear  old  Uncle  Briest,  who  lived  near  by 
at  Schmetzdorf  and  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Manor 
House,  and  secondly,  Frau  von  Bismarck-Schonhausen,  nee 
von  Miltitz.  This  great-aunt  of  the  mighty  Chancellor  was 
already  an  old  lady  in  those  days,  but  that  she  could,  never- 
theless, inspire  Annaliebe's  young  heart  with  fervent  admira- 
tion is  amply  proved  by  the  following  entry  in  the  diary: 

August  24,  1793. 

Oh,  what  exquisite  delight  has  been  mine  to-day!  Frau 
von  Bismarck  was  here!  Would  that  I  could  oftener  enjoy 
the  company  of  this  high-souled,  generous-hearted  woman! 
I  was  in  the  seventh  heaven.  How  marvellous  is  her  un- 
assailable tranquillity  of  spirit  !  I  listened  in  wonder  and 
emotion  to  the  heart-stirring  words  that  fell  from  her  lips.  It 
is  my  dearest  wish  to  follow  in  her  steps  and  become  like  her. 
Shall  I  tell  her  some  day  how  ardently  I  admire  and  love  her? 
I  think  I  shall  venture.  Alas,  that  her  home  is  so  far  from  heie 
and  so  difficult  of  access !  I  wish  I  could  see  her  every  day. 


10    EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

Besides  those  already  mentioned,  two  pastors'  families  in 
the  near  neighbourhood  were  included  in  the  circle  of  my  great- 
grandparents'  intimates — that  of  Deacon  Muller  of  Kalbe  and 
dear  old  Pastor  Nertz  with  his  little  roly-poly  wife  who  be- 
longed to  the  neighbouring  Buhne.  They  saw  a  great  deal  of 
each  other,  and  Annaliebe  often  consulted  the  Frau  Pas- 
torinnen  in  any  little  housekeeping  difficulty  that  turned  up. 

Thus,  the  diary  tells  us,  on  a  certain  afternoon  in  the  mid- 
dle of  August  my  great-grandparents  and  the  two  families 
already  mentioned  were  assembled  round  the  coffee-table  in 
the  Manor  House  garden.  How  often  have  I  not  heard  de- 
scriptions of  that  coffee-table  from  my  mother  and  my  grand- 
mother, who  both  remembered  it  well!  In  the  middle  of  the 
big  garden  table  stood  the  tall  coffee-pot  under  an  embroi- 
dered cosy  and  encircled  by  dainty  little  cups  and  a  crystal 
sugar-bowl.  Beside  it  on  a  tray  was  black  country  bread, 
fresh  butter,  and  golden  honeycomb — cakes  and  the  like  were 
reserved  for  highdays  and  holidays.  The  gentlemen  were 
smoking  long  pipes;  the  great  tobacco-box  filled  with  Dutch 
canaster  stood  on  the  table,  and  beside  it  a  very  simple  con- 
trivance— two  little  bottles  filled  respectively  with  phosphorus 
and  sulphur  and  a  bundle  of  small  match-sticks — for  lighting 
the  pipes. 

A  newspaper,  too,  lay  upon  the  table,  a  diminutive  copy  of 
the  "Berliner  Neueste  Nachrichten,"  which  appeared  only  once 
a  week.  Postage  rates  were  very  high  in  those  days — the 
smallest  letter  cost  four  new  groschen — the  progress  of  the 
mails  was  extremely  slow  and  their  delivery  subject  to  all  sorts 
of  unforeseen  accidents.  It  had  become  a  settled  thing  that  on 
the  day  this  newspaper  and  the  Aschaffenburg  News,  taken 
by  the  Deacon,  arrived  the  two  pastors'  families  should  fore- 


THE  WAR.  II 

gather  at  the  Manor  House  for  coffee.  The  gentlemen  would 
study  the  "  Political  and  Literary  News,"  while  the  ladies  dis- 
cussed domestic  questions,  casting,  maybe,  a  cursory  glance 
over  the  advertisements. 

To-day's  paper  had  brought  the  latest  tidings  of  the  army 
in  Holland,  affording  special  interest  to  the  gentlemen.  For 
Prussia  had  joined  the  second  Coalition  against  France,  in 
which  England  was  also  a  party.  The  combined  forces  of  the 
Allies  amounted  to  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and 
stretched  along  the  frontier  from  Lille  to  Basle.  But  it  was 
ever  the  old  story — there  wan  no  real  organiser,  each  com- 
mander did  what  seemed  good  in  his  own  eyes,  and  anything 
approaching  to  unity  of  action  was  simply  non-existent. 

According  to  the  Berlin  newspaper,  however,  the  latest 
accounts  were  altogether  satisfactory.  The  Austro-Prussian 
Army,  under  the  youthful  Archduke  Charles,  had  defeated 
General  Dumouriez  on  the  Roer,  and  the  Prussian  com- 
mander, the  Duke  of  Brunswick-Pels,  had  afterwards  taken 
the  fortified  towns  of  Roermonde  and  St.  Michel.  The  two 
Generals  now  stood  almost  on  the  rear  of  the  French. 

These  tidings  were  naturally  very  gratifying,  but  the  de- 
scriptions of  the  terrible  doings  in  Paris  filled  the  three  men 
with  horror.  It  was  too  much  for  the  ladies.  They  rose, 
declaring,  as  my  great-grandmother  records,  that  they  would 
hear  no  more  of  these  revolting  brutalities,  so  with  arms  in- 
terlaced they  proceeded  to  wander  through  the  narrow  box- 
bordered  paths  of  the  garden. 

Oh  that  garden !  I  could  paint  it  down  to  the  smallest  de- 
tail from  my  mother's  descriptions.  Whenever,  as  children, 
she  and  her  brother  and  sister  came  to  visit  the  grandmother 
her  first  thought  was  always  to  get  into  the  garden,  which, 


12     EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

with  its  groves  of  fruit-trees  and  gooseberry-bushes,  its  wealth 
of  wall-flower  and  basil,  its  blaze  of  carnations  and  glowing 
red  roses,  its  prim  old-fashioned  flower-beds  and  broad  grassy 
lawns,  seemed  to  her  a  very  Eldorado.  These  flowers  were 
Frau  Annaliebe's  special  pride  and  joy,  and  she  bestowed 
much  time  and  care  on  their  cultivation. 

So  the  three  ladies  pursued  their  leisurely  way  along  the 
garden  paths,  the  hostess  pointing  out  the  various  perfections 
of  her  apple  and  pear  trees  and  finally  leading  them  to  a  corner 
of  the  garden,  where  an  army  of  bees  was  busily  attending  to 
the  duties  of  the  hive. 

Suddenly  from  the  highroad  came  the  sound  of  a  horn,  and 
the  postboy  played  his  finest  tune  as  a  signal  that  he  brought 
the  long-desired  letters  and  newspapers ;  whereupon  the  three 
ladies  hastened  back  to  their  husbands  in  the  hope  that  there 
might  be  something  for  them. 

Werner  was  already  waving  excitedly  to  his  little  wife,  and 
handed  her  a  letter  when  she  came  up.  It  was  from  Major 
Vollrath  von  Rauchhaupt,  a  cousin  of  Werner's,  and  ran  as 
follows : 

ROERMONDE,  August  15,  1793. 

If  I  had  not  so  reliable  a  means  of  conveyance,  my  dear 
Cousin,  I  would  not  risk  writing  to  you  from  this  distance. 
Also  you  know  me  better,  I  hope,  than  to  imagine  that  any- 
thing less  than  a  matter  of  real  importance  would  induce  me 
to  write  a  letter  at  all.  Your  letters  always  afford  me  the 
greatest  pleasure,  for  they  bring  me  news  of  valued  friends 
and  well-beloved  relatives.  If  only  the  writing  itself  had  not 
to  be  done!  It  is  that  which  causes  me  so  much  chagrin. 

But  to  proceed.    First  of  all,  let  me  say  how  glad  I  am  that 


MAJOR  RAUCHHAUPT'S  LETTER.          13 

all  is  well  with  you  and  the  dear  Frau  Cousine.  My  sister 
assured  me  that  you  were  happy — that  is  the  chief  thing  to 
be  considered.  And  now  I  come  to  the  subject  of  my  letter. 
I  have  a  great  favour  to  ask  of  you,  though  more  especially  at 
the  hands  of  my  beloved  and  respected  Cousine,  whom  the 
matter  chiefly  concerns.  To  plunge  therefore  at  once  "  in 
medias  res,"  as  we  used  to  say  at  school,  I  am  much  concerned 
about  a  young  French  lady,  a  refugee  here,  Baronesse  de 
Courtot  by  name,  whom  I  should  greatly  like  to  confide  to 
your  kind  care.  She  has  suffered  terrible  things.  She  was 
dame  cTatour  to  the  hapless  Princesse  de  Lamballe,  and  very 
nearly  fell  a  victim  herself  to  the  guillotine.  When  actually  on 
her  way  to  the  scaffold  she  was  rescued  as  by  a  miracle,  and 
then  fled  the  country  and  took  refuge  here. 

Before  going  further,  I  must,  I  suppose,  give  you  a  full 
and  circumstantial  account  of  how  I  came  to  fall  in  with  the 
lady,  for  I  should  indeed  be  hurt  if  I  were  misjudged  by  you 
and  you  suspected  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  liaison.  Pity 
alone  inspires  my  request  on  behalf  of  the  unfortunate  lady. 
Besides,  you  know  me  better  and  will  not  do  me  that  in- 
justice. 

Well,  then,  I  am  quartered  with  my  regiment  in  the  little 
fortified  town  of  Roermonde,  which  we  took  about  a  week 
ago — our  first  success  in  this  pitiful  war.  We  generally  waste 
the  precious  time  that  cannot  be  recalled  in  mere  child-play. 
There  never  has  been  any  serious  purpose  in  the  management 
of  this  war.  I  am  lodging  in  the  house  of  a  certain  Madame 
la  Saque,  in  the  Rue  de  la  Harpe,  where  please  address  your 
next  letter. 

The  day  before  yesterday,  this  worthy  lady  came  to  me 
and  implored  my  assistance,  saying  that  she  was  in  the  great- 


14    EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

est  anxiety  about  a  sick  young  lady  who  had  taken  refuge 
with  her  the  evening  before.  A  Vicomte  d'Aubignac  had 
come  to  her  and  begged  for  shelter  for  a  lady  whom  he  had 
saved  out  of  the  horrible  whirlpool  of  Paris,  and  the  terrible 
thing  was  that  the  lady's  fiance,  a  Vicomte  de  Trellissak,  had 
lost  his  life  while  contriving  her  escape.  Having  confided  the 
lady  to  Madame's  care  her  companion  immediately  returned 
to  France,  leaving  her  sufficient  money,  however,  to  continue 
her  journey.  My  landlady  begged  me  to  come  to  her  room 
that  I  might  hear  the  unfortunate  lady's  story  from  her  own 
lips.  She  appeared  to  be  not  only  physically  ill  but  to  have 
sustained  a  severe  mental  shock,  for  she  simply  lay  with  wide 
and  staring  eyes  moaning  incessantly,  "  SaweM-moi,  sauvez- 
moi! " 

Knowing  Madame  to  be  a  thoroughly  good  and  honest 
soul,  incapable  of  falsehood,  I  accompanied  her  at  once.  You 
know,  my  dear  Cousin,  that  I  am  easily  moved,  and  when  I 
saw  this  lovely  and  distressful  creature  gazing  up  at  me  with 
her  great  dark  eyes  while  she  cried,  "  Sauvez>  sauvez-moi — 
take  me  away — I  must  get  to  Germany !  "  why,  I  was  touched 
to  the  heart.  I  determined  to  save  her  if  it  were  anyway  pos- 
sible, and  then  I  suddenly  thought  of  you  and  your  peaceful 
home.  If  you  are  willing,  I  can  manage  to  have  her  conveyed 
to  you  and  so  placed  in  safety. 

Oh,  compassion  is  indeed  a  precious  sentiment  and  a  gift 
from  above — of  your  charity  give  this  poor  hapless  fugitive  a 
shelter! 

There  is,  I  know,  often  a  wide  gulf  between  wishing  and 
being  able  to  do  a  thing,  but  if  it  lies  in  your  power  to  accede 
to  my  request,  then  write  me  without  delay.  If  la  chere  Cousins 
consents  to  undertake  this  Samaritan  work,  I  could  arrange 


THEY  DECIDE  TO  RECEIVE  THE  BARONESS.  1 5 

for  the  lady  to  join  a  sick-transport  which  leaves  here  shortly 
and  takes  its  way  over  Cassel  to  Magdeburg.  But  you  must 
send  me  word  at  once,  for  I  do  not  think  our  reign  here  will 
last  long.  They  say  the  Sansculottes  intend  advancing  against 
us  in  great  hordes.  I  have  had  more  than  enough  of  this  sort 
of  thing — am  sick  and  tired  of  the  whole  accursed  business. 
To  be  subordinate  to  ignoramuses  and  fools,  against  whom 
there  is  no  redress  but  to  denounce  them  fruitlessly  to  the 
higher  powers,  is  not  by  any  means  my  idea  of  service.  Write 
soon.  I  embrace  you  with  all  the  ardour  of  my  affectionate 
heart.  I  kiss  the  hand  of  the  amiable  Lady  Cousin. 
Always  your  heartily  obliged  Friend  and  Cousin, 
ALBRECHT  VOLLRATH  VON  RAUCHHAUPT, 

Major. 

The  following  entry  in  the  diary  records  my  great-grand- 
mother's impressions  as  to  the  reception  of  the  Baroness: 

August  3ist. 

The  answer  to  Cousin  Vollrath's  letter  has  been  de- 
spatched, and  so  we  may  expect  the  poor  friendless  fugitive 
ere  long,  for  my  dear  Werner  approves  of  the  plan.  We  must 
hasten  now  to  get  everything  in  readiness  for  our  charge.  I 
shall  have  the  two  pleasant  rooms  in  the  east  gable,  which  were 
Aunt  Georgine's  for  so  many  years,  prepared  for  her.  There 
she  will  have  the  beautiful  view  across  the  garden  to  the  forest 
and  the  first  friendly  greeting  of  the  morning  sun  as  it  glances 
through  the  green  vine  leaves  at  the  window.  There,  too,  I 
shall  hang  up  my  Bibi's  cage — the  canary  Werner  gave  me 
on  my  birthday — and  he  will  cheer  the  poor  sufferer  with  his 
gay  song. 


1 6     EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

Oh,  what  trials  has  she  not  encountered  already  during  her 
short  life!  I  visited  our  good  Pastor  yesterday  and  went 
through  the  newspapers  again  with  him,  reading  of  the  hor- 
rors which  took  place  in  Paris  and  more  especially  those  ac- 
counts dealing  with  the  days  of  the  Terror.  There  lies  the 
whole  packet  now,  and  I  cannot  restrain  my  tears  when  I  re- 
call these  ghastly  deeds  and  how  they  butchered  that  dear 
Princess.  Oh,  poor,  poor  Queen  and  you  too,  most  unhappy 
friend,  who  were  compelled  to  stand  by  and  see  the  murderers 
carry  the  beautiful  blond  head  past  the  windows  of  the  Temple 
on  a  pike!  Oh,  I  shudder  even  to  think  of  it !  And  you,  poor 
martyr — I  do  not  know  you  yet,  but  in  my  heart  I  call  you 
friend,  for  you  seem  no  stranger  to  me.  Will  your  sweet  face 
be  as  I  have  pictured  it,  I  wonder?  Oh,  God,  aid  me  in  my 
endeavours  to  win  back  this  poor  sad  heart  to  take  pleasure 
once  more  in  Thy  beautiful  world !  Whatever  lies  in  my  power 
shall  be  done. 

Accordingly,  the  diary  shows  us  the  Alvenslebens  much 
occupied  during  the  next  few  days  with  preparations  for  re- 
ceiving the  Baroness.  There  were  various  decorative  addi- 
tions to  be  made  in  the  rooms — a  flower-table  to  be  furnished 
with  the  pick  of  their  plants,  friendly  pictures  to  be  hung  upon 
the  walls;  the  kind-hearted  creature  even  sent  over  to  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Stendal  for  a  dainty  little  work-table, 
and  both  husband  and  wife  vied  with  each  other  in  their  fore- 
thought for  the  comfort  of  the  expected  guest. 

Old  Uncle  Briest  seems  to  have  come  over  now  and  then 
from  his  estate  near  by.  He  was  the  last  of  his  ancient  race, 
a  hardy,  jovial  old  man  of  sixty  and  a  bosom  friend  of  the 
newly  married  couple.  He  must  have  been  a  somewhat 


UNCLE  BRIEST.  17 

peculiar  but  extremely  kind-hearted  man.  My  great-grand- 
mother never  mentions  him  without  adding  some  term  of  en- 
dearment. It  is  "  Uncle  Heini  "  here  and  "  our  dear  old 
Briest "  there,  and  he  was  always  to  be  depended  on  for  sound 
advice  or  assistance  in  any  emergency.  It  would  seem  that 
their  plans  for  the  stranger  did  not,  at  first,  meet  with  his  ap- 
proval, for  the  diary  says:  "  To  be  sure,  Uncle  Briest  considers 
I  have  been  unduly  hasty  in  my  decision,  for  who  can  tell  what 
sort  of  creature  this  Frenchwoman  may  turn  out  to  be,  and, 
in  any  case,  a  third  person  is  always  '  de  trop '  in  a  newly 
married  household!  You  dear  old  bachelor,  what  do  you 
know  about  it?  Do  you  know  me  and  my  Werner  so  little  as 
to  imagine  that  anything  or  anybody  in  this  world  could  come 
between  us  and  our  love?  " 

Eventually  Uncle  Briest's  kind  heart  must  have  got  the  up- 
per hand,  for  he  sends  a  beautiful  deerskin  rug  for  the  room  of 
"  Madame  de  la  Cour,"  as  he  calls  her,  and  is  apparently  most 
impatient  for  her  arrival.  More  than  this,  he  actually  proposes, 
when  the  time  comes,  to  fetch  the  lady  from  Magdeburg.  This 
idea,  however,  was  not  to  Annaliebe's  taste.  "  I  think,"  she 
writes,  "  it  will  be  best  for  us  to  manage  it  alone,"  and  adds : 
"  Oh,  Werner,  my  beloved,  how  we  will  vie  with  one  another 
in  our  care  for  this  sorely  tried  stranger — are  we  not  wholly 
one  in  all  our  thoughts  and  feelings  ?  " 

The  next  fortnight  passed  in  eager  expectation  of  further 
instruction  from  cousin  Rauchhaupt,  but  day  after  day  went 
by  and  no  letter  came.  At  last,  on  the  5th  of  September,  the 
post  brought  the  desired  news.  Cousin  Vollrath  writes  as 
follows : 


1 8     EARLY  MARRIED  LIFE  OF  THE  VON  ALVENSLEBENS. 

Still    in    ROERMUNDE, 
August  30,   1793. 

My  dear  Werner : 

Mademoiselle  has  just  left  with  a  sick-transporffor  Cassel, 
accompanied  by  a  nurse  engaged  by  my  landlady.  The  lady 
was  ill  for  some  days,  and  is  still  terribly  weak  and  exhausted. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  she  will  stand  the  long  journey;  she  posi- 
tivly  yearns  to  be  with  you.  She  made  me  tell  her  a  great  deal 
about  you.  At  Cassel  she  will  take  the  post  and  should,  by 
my  reckoning,  reach  Magdeburg  on  the  9th  or  loth  of  Septem- 
ber, and  will  put  up  at  the  Lamb  Inn.  Please  fetch  her  from 
there.  You  will  find  her  a  gentle  and  amiable  lady,  but  des- 
perately low-spirited  still.  She  has  won  all  hearts  here.  I  do 
not  suppose  we  shall  be  here  much  longer.  When  I  get  back 
I  will  come  and  look  you  up.  Meanwhile,  my  kindest  remem- 
brances to  my  fair  Cousine,  as  also  my  deeply  grateful  thanks 
to  her  for  having  acceded  to  my  request. 

Ever  your  faithful  cousin, 

V.  VON  RAUCHHAUPT. 


CHAPTER  III. 
CECILE'S   ARRIVAL. 

So  the  decisive  moment  had  come.  The  last  few  days 
before  the  journey  passed  quickly,  the  rooms  set  apart  for  the 
guest  were  once  more  thoroughly  reviewed,  and  on  the  8th  of 
September  the  great  family  chaise,  with  its  stout  gray  horses, 
drew  up  before  the  door,  and  the  Alvenslebens  started  for 
Magdeburg,  travelling  by  way  of  Gardelegen  and  Stendal. 

After  all,  Mademoiselle  did  not  arrive  till  late  on  the  night 
of  the  nth.  The  lady  must  have  been  much  exhausted,  for  it 
was  only  after  two  days  of  the  most  complete  rest  and  quiet 
that  she  could  take  the  road  again  and  push  on  to  Kalbe.  In 
the  mean  time,  Annaliebe  bought  various  necessaries  for  her 
visitor,  a  brief  account  of  which  is  among  the  papers.  The 
Baroness  had  no  luggage  with  her  but  a  small  valise,  and 
possessed  no  other  clothes  but  those  she  stood  in,  for  which 
untoward  circumstances  my  great-grandmother  had  to  take 
thought. 

Nevertheless,  these  purchases  appear  to  have  been  some- 
what unwelcome  to  the  lady ;  at  any  rate,  she  at  once  refunded 
the  sum  laid  out  upon  them,  and  told  Frau  von  Alvensleben 
she  had  already  written  to  her  old  nurse,  Madame  Gervais,  in 
Paris,  Rue  de  Riccot,  to  send  her  through  the  banking  house 
of  Simon  in  Paris  a  trunk  containing  valuables  which  she, 

19 


20  CECILE'S  ARRIVAL. 

the  Baroness,  had  left  with  Madame  Gervais  before  her 
flight. 

The  old  nurse,  Margarethe,  on  whom  the  sick  lady  had 
come  to  depend  very  much,  accompanied  the  party  to  Kalbe, 
sitting  beside  old  Johann  on  the. box.  The  travellers  reached 
home  on  the  evening  of  the  i6th,  having  rested  one  day  at 
Stendal  for  the  invalid's  benefit. 

Annaliebe's  first  impressions  of  her  guest  are  duly  recorded 
in  the  diary. 

September  18,  1793. 

Oh,  my  timid  little  birdie — my  poor,  poor  Cecile  !  How  I 
thank  Heaven  now  that  I  decided  to  receive  her.  Alas,  what 
terrible  misery  there  is  in  the  world  !  When  I  helped  the  dear 
creature  out  of  the  coach  at  Magdeburg  and  met  those  piteous, 
deeply  sorrowful  eyes  that  gazed  at  me  half  vacantly  and  yet 
with  such  a  wistful  hungering  for  love,  a  world  of  tenderness 
filled  my  heart  for  the  hapless  girl.  My  arms  opened  of  them- 
selves, I  drew  her  to  me  and  mingled  my  tears  with  hers  as 
she  lay  weeping  on  my  bosom.  From  that  moment,  she  won 
my  love,  my  whole  soul  went  out  to  her  and  called  her  sister, 
and  when  Cecile — for  that  is  her  sweet  and  musical  name — 
whispered  in  her  broken  German,  "  Du  Gute,  du  Liebe,  du  !  " 
I  caught  with  delight  the  sound  of  the  dear  familiar  thou  and 
at  once  determined  in  my  newly  awakened  affection  to  use  the 
same  address  with  her. 

And  how  quite,  quite  different  she  is  from  what  I  had  pic- 
tured !  I  expected,  from  what  I  knew  of  her  previous  history, 
to  find  a  spoiled  grande  dame  who  would  have  great  difficulty 
in  accustoming  herself  to  our  simple  country  life;  and  instead, 
here  is  a  shy  and  gentle  girl,  who  with  her  dark  eyes  and 
beautiful  features  looks  younger  than  I,  although  she  says  she 


MEETING  OF  CECILS  AND  ANNALIEBE.  2i 

is  30.  These  dark  eyes,  with  their  black  eyebrows  and  lashes, 
form  a  most  peculiarly  attractive  contrast  to  her  reddish  fair 
hair.  How  bewitching  she  must  have  been  when  those  lovely 
eyes  could  laugh — now  they  look  as  if  they  had  long  forgotten 
how.  Grief  has  already  graven  her  runic  lines  on  the  white 
brow  and  woven  a  silver  thread  or  two  among  the  beautiful 
tresses,  and  the  piteous  little  mouth  is  ever  drawn  as  if  on  the 
point  of  weeping.  Her  whole  appearance  is  so  inexpressibly 
affecting  that  I  can  scarce  restrain  my  tears  whenever  I  look 
at  her. 

And  the  gratitude  of  the  sweet  soul  !  Her  eyes  are  for- 
ever seeking  mine,  and  she  cannot  bear  me  to  leave  her  side. 
My  Werner  is  quite  jealous  of  her,  and  says  the  stranger  is 
drawing  me  away  from  him.  Oh,  you  dear,  foolish  fellow, 
as  if  anything  in  the  world  could  draw  me  away  from  you ! 
However,  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  she  will  soon  be 
quite  restored  to  health. 

Two  days  later. 

I  am  half  afraid  that  Cecile  is  going  to  be  seriously  ill  ! 
It  would  not  be  surprising  considering  all  she  has  gone 
through  in  the  last  few  months.  The  symptoms  are  bad — 
she  sleeps  very  little  and,  do  what  I  will,  I  cannot  persuade  her 
to  eat  more  than  a  mouthful  now  and  then.  She  simply  sits 
with  her  hands  in  her  lap,  silent  and  brooding,  gazing  into 
the  far  distance. 

Over  and  over  again  in  these  sunny  autumn  days  I  have 
begged  her  to  come  down  into  the  garden  with  me,  but  in 
vain — she  is  tired,  she  says,  and  cannot  be  induced  to  leave 
her  low  armchair  at  the  window.  She  broods  and  broods, 
and  the  tearless  eyes  have  at  times  a  glassy  stare  as  if  they 
saw  some  dreadful  sight. 


22  CECILE;S  ARRIVAL. 

I  cannot  ask  our  good  old  friend  Dr.  Nikolai  to  come  and 
exert  his  quiet  reassuring  influence  over  her,  and  also  to 
examine  into  her  state  of  health.  God  restore  the  poor  thing 
soon  both  in  mind  and  body  ! 

October  24th. 

These  have  been  weeks  of  heavy  trouble  and  anxiety.  It 
fell  out  as  I  feared,  and  my  poor  Cecile  has  been  sick  well- 
nigh  unto  death  of  brain  fever.  The  first  signs  of  the  fever 
showed  themselves  on  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  last  month, 
and  by  the  time  the  doctor  arrived  she  was  delirious,  and  the 
good  old  man  shook  his  gray  head  ominously.  He  stayed 
with  us  for  three  days  and  shared  my  watch  at  Cecile's  bed- 
side. What  terrible  days  and  nights  were  those  I  passed  minis- 
tering to  the  poor  sufferer !  Hours  full  of  anxious  care,  while 
her  fever-ridden  spirit  wrestled  with  the  dread  fiends  of  her 
delirium.  What  have  I  not  had  to  listen  to!  Her  mind  was 
ever  busy  with  images  of  death  and  of  the  scaffold,  and  an 
overwhelming  terror  lay  upon  her  all  the  time. 

Oh,  it  was  heart-rending  to  sit  there  and  listen  to  her  rav- 
ings and  to  be  powerless  to  help  her!  Only  when  I  laid  my 
cool  hand  on  her  burning  brow  would  she  sometimes  grow  a 
little  quiet  and  murmur,  "  0  c'est  bon,  c'est  bon"  Or  she 
would  whisper  fond  words  of  love :  "  Oh,  my  beloved — my 
Hector,  is  that  you  beside  me  ?  "  Then  her  great  eyes  would 
open  wide  in  mad  terror  and  she  shrieked :  "  Hector,  Hector, 
do  not  leave  me  !  " — and  again  the  low  fond  murmur :  "  Dear 
one,  they  told  me  you  were  dead,  but  there  you  are  at  my  side 
• — it  cannot  be  long  now  till  our  marriage  . . .  But  what  is  that 
— what  do  I  see  !  " — and  her  little  hands  clutched  at  her 
loosened  hair — "  my  Princess's  beloved  face  . . .  the  fair  curls 
wave  around  it ...  and  there — there  is  blood ! . ,  .  Hector — 


CECILE'S  ILLNESS.  23 

Hector,  you  too  ?  "  She  clenched  her  hands  and  started  up 
in  bed,  throwing  herself  from  side  to  side  in  such  a  frenzy 
that  I  could  not  hold  her  alone  and  had  to  call  the  faithful  old 
Margarethe  to  my  assistance. 

Thus  long,  long  hours  dragged  past  and  brought  her  no 
sleep,  no  relief.  Scene  after  scene  of  the  horrid  tragedies  she 
had  witnessed  rose  up  before  her  out  of  the  cauldron  of 
her  delirium,  and  she  constantly  murmured  different  names, 
amongst  which  I  think  I  caught  that  of  the  Queen  Marie 
Antoinette. 

At  last,  after  many  troubled  and  anxious  days,  the  longed- 
for  crisis  set  in.  Her  poor  tortured  spirit  flared  up  once  again 
in  wildest  ravings,  then  sank  away  into  deep  sleep — her  only 
chance  of  life.  After  a  fortnight  of  overwhelming  uncertainty, 
the  doctor  could  give  me  hope  that  the  worst  was  over  and  that 
Cecile  might  recover.  I  thanked  God  with  all  my  heart  and 
soul. 

For  nearly  three  days  Cecile  lay  in  this  deep  sleep.  The 
fever  subsided  by  degrees,  and  when,  at  last,  she  opened  her 
eyes,  they  wore  a  totally  new  expression.  The  frenzy,  the 
delirium  had  left  them.  She  looked  about  her  at  first  be- 
wildered in  the  darkened  room  into  which  only  a  pale  streak 
of  sunlight  entered  between  the  drawn  curtains,  then  her  eyes 
fell  on  me  and  a  tender  smile  played  round  her  pretty  mouth. 
With  a  whispered  "  Annaliebe  "  she  tried  to  stretch  a  slender 
waxen  hand  towards  me,  but  it  sank  feebly  back  upon  the 
bed.  Her  whole  delicate  form  seemed  but  a  shadow,  the  fever 
had  so  wasted  her.  So  I  clasped  the  little  hand  in  mine  and 
bent  over  the  sweet  transparent  face  and  kissed  her.  Filled 
with  gratitude  to  Heaven,  our  fingers  lovingly  intertwined,  I 


24  CECILE'S  ARRIVAL. 

murmured  softly :   "  I  thank  Thee,  O  my  Father,  that  Thou 
hast  given  her  back  to  life  and  me !  " 

All  went  well  after  that.  Cecile's  appetite  improved,  her 
strength  gradually  returned,  and  to-day  she  has  been  allowed 
to  leave  her  bed  for  an  hour.  We  packed  her  round  with  pil- 
lows and  carried  her  to  her  favourite  seat  by  the  window,  and 
there  she  sits  now  gazing  out  into  the  clear  autumn  sunshine. 

We  were  able  to  prepare  a  pleasant  surprise  for  her,  too. 
A  week  after  Cecile  fell  ill,  Werner  received  information  that 
a  chest  containing  valuables,  sent  by  Simon  of  Paris  over  Eng- 
land, was  awaiting  the  Baroness  Courtot  at  the  banking  house 
of  Magnus  in  Magdeburg.  Three  days  ago,  Werner  went  over 
and  brought  it  back  with  him. 

The  doctor  had  advised  me  to  try  and  distract  our  invalid's 
thoughts,  so  Werner  proposed  that  I  should  open  the  chest 
and  see  if  I  could  find  something  in  it  to  give  her  pleasure. 
And  sure  enough,  just  under  the  lid  lay  two  portraits,  one  of 
an  elderly  gentleman  in  the  uniform  of  the  French  Gardes, 
and  the  other  of  a  high-bred  and  beautiful  lady,  both  of  whom 
I  at  once  judged  from  the  likeness  to  be  Cecile's  parents. 

As  soon  as  my  poor  pet  was  settled  in  her  armchair  at  the 
window  I  asked  her  to  shut  her  eyes  a  moment,  then  I  propped 
up  the  two  pictures  on  the  little  work-table  in  front  of  her,  and 
told  her  to  open  them  again.  "  Oh,  my  dear,  dear  father  and 
mother  ! "  she  cried,  snatching  up  the  portraits  and  kissing 
first  one  and  then  the  other.  And  then  at  last,  at  last — 
the  long-deferred  tears  rushed  to  her  eyes,  and  she  wept  long 
and  profusely. 

"  Thank  God  for  that  ! "  exclaimed  dear  old  Nikolai,  over- 
joyed.   "  Now  all  will  be  well.    It  is  a  mercy  that  we  have  at 


CECILE'S  RECOVERY.  25 

last  got  the  young  lady  to  this  point,"  and  he  pressed  Cecile's 
little  hand  tenderly.  "  Courage,  little  one — we  shall  soon  put 
colour  again  into  those  pale  cheeks!" 

May  the  good  old  gentleman's  words  speedily  be  ful- 
filled! 


CHAPTER  IV. 
CECILE. 

THIS  improvement  was  steadily  maintained,  and  Cecile 
must  presently  have  quite  recovered,  for  towards  Christmas 
my  great-grandmother's  diary  contains  brief  notices  as  to 
preparations  for  that  festival  shared  by  the  two  ladies,  also  a 
list  of  her  presents  to  Cecile  and  to  her  husband. 

Then  came  the  New  Year  of  1794.  The  spring  and  sum- 
mer passed,  and  on  June  24th  we  find  the  following  entry  in 
Annaliebe's  diary: 

Thank  God  my  Cecile  has  now  quite  recovered,  for  which 
I  am  more  especially  glad,  as  my  present  condition  demands 
much  care.  My  beloved  Werner,  in  his  fond  anxiety  for  me, 
wished  at  last  to  engage  a  paid  nurse  for  Cecile,  but  happily 
there  is  no  further  need  for  that.  Bodily  Cecile  is  indeed  much 
better.  I  only  wish  I  could  say  the  same  of  her  spirits.  It 
is  true,  she  is  less  depressed  and  takes  a  little  more  interest  in 
the  small  events  of  our  daily  life,  so  that  I  trust  her  poor, 
sorely  wounded  heart  is  beginning  to  heal.  Still  there  is  one 
thing  I  cannot  but  think  injurious  to  her — she  persists  in 
hiding  away  her  grief  deep  out  of  sight.  If  she  would  only  once 
open  her  heart  freely  to  me,  she  would  surely  find  relief.  But 
no — never  a  word  of  the  past.  How  gladly  would  I  help  her 
to  bear  the  sorrows  of  those  years;  but  she  shrinks  like  a  sen- 

26 


CECILE'S  STATE  OF  MIND.  2; 

sitive  plant  at  the  slightest  allusion  to  them,  and  the  dreadful 
fixed  look  of  horror  comes  into  her  eyes  that  frightened  me 
so  much  at  first.  I  know  that  she  frets  in  secret,  and  that  is 
always  the  worst  form  of  heartsickness. 

To  give  one  instance  among  many.  We  are  enjoying  a 
perfectly  marvellous  summer  this  year — every  day  a  blaze  of 
sunshine — and  if  it  rains  at  all,  then  only  in  the  night.  On  one 
such  dewy  fresh  morning  lately  Werner  and  I  were  taking  a 
walk  in  our  beautiful  beechwood — I  have  been  ordered  much 
exercise  in  the  fresh  air  at  present — when  we  suddenly  caught 
sight  of  Cecile  in  one  of  the  side  paths.  She  was  unaware  of 
our  presence,  and  was  pacing  slowly  along  with  drooping 
head,  apparently  absorbed  in  her  sad  thoughts.  Presently  she 
stopped,  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  great  tears 
trickled  between  her  fingers. 

Can  the  wings  of  her  spirit  be  hopelessly  broken?  And  yet 
all  life  lies  before  her.  No;  she  must  not  be  permitted  to  en- 
close herself  hermetically  in  the  web  of  her  sorrow.  In  her 
youth  she  winged  her  flight  bravely  into  life — she  must  find 
her  way  back  to  it  again. 

I  hastened  to  her  side,  and  caught  the  words  of  yearning 
sorrow  I  had  so  often  heard  from  her  lips :  "  Oh  Hector,  my 
one  and  only  love,  why  did  you  leave  me  behind  alone!" 
Then  I  took  her  fondly  in  my  arms  and  implored  her  to 
lighten  the  burden  of  her  grief  by  opening  her  heart  to  me. 
But  she  only  shook  her  head  mournfully.  "  Give  me  time, 
Annaliebe;  I  cannot  bear  yet  to  speak  of  my  troubles.  It 
would  only  do  me  harm.  Give  me  time — I  shall  come  round." 

And  so  I  shall  leave  the  dear  soul  in  peace;  the  right  mo- 
ment will  come  all  in  good  time. 

In  the  last  few  days  her  spirits  seem  to  have  improved 


28  CECILE. 

somewhat.  Yesterday,  for  instance,  I  found  her  searching  in 
her  trunk,  which  hitherto  she  has  only  eyed  nervously.  Pres- 
ently she  found  a  picture  which  she  took  out  and  kissed  fondly. 
I  am  very  glad,  for  if  she  once  finds  the  courage  to  occupy 
herself  with  the  things  that  recall  the  past  to  her,  she  will  soon 
be  able  to  give  utterance  to  her  grief. 

I  myself  feel  far  from  well  just  now.  Was  the  nursing  of 
Cecile  too  much  for  me,  or  the  whole  episode  perhaps  too  ex- 
citing? The  doctor  admonishes  me  to  take  the  greatest  care 
of  myself,  and  so  it  is  perhaps  just  as  well  that  Cecile  should 
not  confide  her  harrowing  story  to  me  for  the  present.  I  might 
take  it  too  greatly  to  heart,  though  for  her  sake  I  would  gladly 
risk  it.  Oh  Heavenly  Father,  take  me  under  Thy  protecting 
care,  more  especially  during  the  fast-approaching  trial  that 
awaits  me! 

In  the  middle  of  July,  scarcely  three  weeks  after  the  last 
entry  in  my  great-grandmother's  diary,  a  little  daughter  was 
born  to  the  Alvenslebens.  It  went  hardly  with  poor  Anna- 
liebe,  and  she  was  dangerously  ill.  Cecile  Courtot  nursed  her 
devotedly,  the  two  friends  thus  exchanging  parts,  the  one  who 
had  hitherto  enjoyed  such  unceasing  care  becoming  the  self- 
sacrificing  nurse  in  her  turn.  It  was  long  before  the  young 
mother  recovered,  and  that  she  eventually  quite  regained  her 
health  and  strength  was  entirely  owing  to  the  tender  and  un- 
remitting devotion  of  her  husband  and  her  faithful  nurse 
Cecile. 

It  was  not  till  the  2oth  of  September,  Cecile's  birthday, 
that  the  christening  of  the  new  baby  could  take  place.  The 
sponsors  were  Frau  von  Kroecher,  Cecile,  Uncle  Briest,  the 


THE  JOYS  OF  MOTHERHOOD.  2£ 

poet  Gleim,  and  a  cousin,  Busso  von  Alvensleben:  so  the  names 
stand  in  the  baptismal  certificate  of  my  grandmother — for 
she  was  that  baby.  She  received  the  names  Sophie,  Elizabeth, 
Philippine,  Cecile,  and  married  on  June  II,  1812,  my  grand- 
father, Friedrich  von  Liideritz,  of  Schonberg  and  Herzfelde. 

Gleim,  who  came  over  from  Halberstadt  for  the  christen- 
ing, dedicated  two  poems  to  Cecile,  one  praising  her  devotion 
as  sick-nurse,  the  other  bringing  birthday  greetings. 

September  28,  1794. 

It  is  long  since  I  took  any  notice  of  you-,  my  faithful  little 
book !  Not  but  what  I  have  sorely  missed  any  daily  commun- 
ings  with  you,  for  many  are  the  landmarks  in  my  young  life 
and  my  wedded  happiness  that  are  set  down  in  your  pages. 
And  now  I  have  to  confide  to  you  the  sweetest,  the  most  won- 
derful event  in  a  woman's  life — that  I  am  the  mother  of  a  dear 
little  daughter.  Mother!  What  a  world  of  new  impressions, 
duties,  and  delights  that  one  little  word  opens  up !  And  there 
she  lies  beside  me — a  tiny  enigma,  and  her  darling  blue  eyes 
gaze  at  me  with  a  question.  "  Who  are  you,  and  where  have 
I  come  from  ?  "  they  seem  to  ask. 

What  happiness  lies  for  me  in  the  thought  that  my  Werner 
and  I  are  now  one  in  this  dear  infant !  Oh  my  beloved,  how 
blessed  are  we  in  our  mutual  love  !  Well  I  know  it  was  my 
husband's  secret  hope  that  God  would  be  pleased  to  grant 
us  a  son,  but  I  could  detect  no  faintest  trace  of  disappoint- 
ment when  it  proved  otherwise,  and  in  his  great  joy  at  my  safe 
delivery  he  thanked  me  on  his  knees  for  this  divine  pledge  of 
our  love.  I  am  filled  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  dignity  of  my 
new  maternal  estate.  I  seem  to  myself  quite  a  grave  and 


30  CECILE. 

reverend  person !  Oh  Heavenly  Father,  grant  me  Thy  grace, 
that  I  may  wisely  fulfil  my  new  duties,  so  that  my  child  may 
in  time  grow  up  to  be  a  good  and  useful  woman. 

For  long  wretched  weeks  I  lay  upon  a  bed  of  sickness,  at 
times  so  ill  and  weak  that  I  thought  my  poor  flame  of  life  must 
flicker  to  its  end.  But  God  was  good  to  me  and  let  me  stay 
with  my  babe  and  my  Werner.  Oh,  how  would  it  have  been 
had  I  been  called  away  into  the  Unknown  Land  and  had  to 
bid  farewell  to  all  my  new-found  joys  ?  But  that  I  did  finally 
recover  I  owe,  after  God,  entirely  to  the  unremitting  care  of 
my  dear  Cecile.  Oh  thou  dear  and  faithful  one,  what  didst 
thou  not  do  for  me  during  all  those  weary  days !  I  had  no 
mother  to  be  at  my  side  in  the  hour  of  trial  and  danger;  in 
Cecile  I  found  friend  and  nurse  and  mother  in  one.  Amply 
hast  thou  repaid  all  I  may  have  done  for  thee  ! 

And  not  only  has  Cecile  nursed  me  back  to  life,  she  herself 
has  become  another  creature  through  her  cares  for  me.  It 
has  diverted  her  thoughts  from  her  own  troubles,  and  she 
seems  to  me  to  have  well-nigh  regained  her  health  and  spirits. 
The  sweet  eyes  look  out  more  cheerily  upon  the  world,  her 
whole  nature  has  become  brighter  and  more  self-reliant,  and 
a  smile  often  plays  round  her  wistful  lips  now.  The  soothing 
peace  of  country  life,  the  quiet  round  of  household  duties  can 
achieve  wonders.  May  they  be  thrice  blessed  to  my  Cecile ! 

A  day  or  two  ago,  she  came  to  me  with  a  special  request 
which,  at  first,  I  hardly  knew  how  to  answer.  It  seems  that 
the  little  intriguante  had  taken  advantage  of  my  illness  to  make 
a  business  arrangement  with  Werner.  She  explained  to  him 
how  impossible  it  would  be  for  her  to  remain  with  us — perhaps 
for  years — as  our  guest,  and  on  Werner  refusing  to  entertain 
her  proposal  she  threatened  to  leave  us.  Thereupon,  without 


CECILE'S  JEWELS.  31 

consulting  me,  they  arranged  between  themselves  that  she 
should  pay  a  certain  sum  for  board  and  lodging,  Cecile  hand- 
ing over,  at  the  same  time,  a  small  capital  invested  in  French 
rentes  for  my  husband  to  manage.  The  papers  connected  with 
it  were  in  the  chest  sent  by  Madame  Gervais  and  had  been 
a  legacy  to  Cecile  from  her  Aunt  Choiseul.  And  with  this 
fait  accompli  she  now  comes  to  me  and  asks  my  consent  to  the 
bargain ! 

At  first  I  was  quite  indignant  at  the  arrangement,  but  I 
saw  afterwards  that  she  was  right;  indeed,  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, I  think  I  should  have  done  the  same. 

This  business  settled  to  her  satisfaction,  Cecile  proposed  to 
show  me  something,  and  fetched  from  her  room  a  great  leather 
case.  When,  at  her  request,  I  opened  it,  I  was  dazzled  by  a 
blaze  of  pearls  and  diamonds.  The  set  consisted  of  a  necklace, 
a  diadem,  a  brooch,  and  two  bracelets  formerly  belonging  to 
her  Aunt  Choiseul.  And  now  she  wished  me  to  advise  her 
as  to  how  she  might  best  convert  them  into  money.  I  was 
struck  dumb  by  the  splendour  of  these  jewels.  The  great 
diamonds  flashed  in  a  thousand  colours — such  superb  gems, 
such  exquisite  milk-white  pearls  I  had  never  beheld.  Not  that 
that  is  saying  much,  for  with  the  exception  of  my  mother's 
little  diamond  brooch  and  Werner's  beautiful  bracelet  I  pos- 
sess no  jewellery. 

It  seems  a  terrible  pity  to  part  with  all  this  splendour,  but 
as  Cecile  is  anxious  to  increase  her  small  capital  with  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sale,  there  is  no  use  wasting  regrets  over  it.  We 
decided  therefore  that  as  soon  as  I  am  well  enough  Werner 
will  take  us  to  Berlin  and  offer  the  jewels  to  the  Court  jeweller 
Harnisch. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Cecile,  for  the  first  time, 


32  CECILE. 

touched  upon  the  past.  She  spoke  of  her  family  estates  Mont 
Courtot  and  Retracet  in  the  Vendee,  and  also  of  her  mother's 
splendid  jewels,  which  she  was  sure  had  been  stolen  or  de- 
stroyed at  the  burning  of  the  Castle  of  Mont  Courtot. 

I  have  made  up  my  mind  never  to  question  Cecile  again 
as  to  her  past.  She  will  open  up  the  subject  herself,  all  in  good 
time.  But  this  whole  episode  shows  an  immense  advance; 
her  dear  heart  and  spirits  seem  to  grow  lighter  every  day.  But 
enough  for  the  present, — for  Phillinchen  is  crying  for  me." 

The  trip  to  Berlin  had  to  be  put  off,  however,  for  Cousin 
Vollrath  Rauchhaupt  meanwhile  paid  them  a  visit. 

The  gallant  colonel  and  his  regiment  were  still  with  the  so- 
called  "  Prussian-Saxon  Army  "  on  the  Rhine  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  von  Mollendorf. 

The  energies  of  this  army  were  devoted  to  a  few  in- 
significant skirmishes  with  outposts,  in  fact  it  was  the  old 
story — there  was  no  unity  of  purpose  among  the  leaders  and 
consequently  no  coherence  between  the  various  detachments 
of  the  army.  Each  general  fought  for  his  own  hand,  and  no- 
body was  the  gainer.  The  men  of  the  old  regime,  to  whom 
Mollendorf  also  belonged,  could  not  forget  the  Frederician 
methods  of  war,  and  found,  to  their  dismay,  that  the  elaborate 
combinations  they  drew  up  on  paper  were  utterly  antiquated 
and  quite  useless  against  the  tactics  of  the  young  and  brilliant 
French  generals.  Thus  when  Mollendorf  received  news  of 
the  retreat  of  the  Army  of  the  Moselle  under  Jourdan,  instead 
of  advancing  upon  the  Sambre  and  so  joining  forces  with  his 
allies,  he  continued  his  own  little  separate  war  and  advanced 
upon  the  Saar. 

Here,  on  the  23d  of  April,  in  accordance  with  a  most  in- 


LETTER  FROM  COUSIN  RAUCHHAUPT.  33 

tricate  plan  of  his,  depending  absolutely  on  the  vai'.ous  con- 
verging columns  completing  their  march  in  a  given  time,  he 
attacked  the  enemy  and  forced  him  from  his  position  in  Kai- 
serslautern.  This  small  success  was,  however,  without  in> 
portance  for  the  campaign  in  general,  and,  considering  that 
Mollendorf  actually  returned  to  his  former  position  in  Reh- 
bach,  the  whole  affair  might  just  as  well  never  have  happened, 
and  was  certainly  not  worth  the  expenditure  of  blood.  In 
July,  however,  the  French  advanced  once  more  and  renewed 
the  attack.  There  was  fighting  for  a  few  days  with  varying 
success.  Then  suddenly — whether  on  his  own  initiative  or  in 
obedience  to  orders  has  never  been  made  clear — General  von 
Mollendorf  concluded  a  three  months'  truce  with  General 
Jourdan,  while  the  rest  of  the  Allies  continued  the  campaign. 

Colonel  Rauchhaupt  took  advantage  of  this  to  go  hoitte  on 
leave,  and  expressed  his  desire  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  relations  in 
Kalbe. 

His  letter  announcing  his  intention  is  among  my  great- 
grandmother's  papers. 

REHBACH,  June  25,  1794. 

Hearty  thanks,  my  dear,  good  Werner,  for  your  kind  and 
sympathetic  letter.  True  sympathy  is  ever  a  draught — if  not 
of  healing,  at  least  of  sweetest  refreshment  to  the  vanquished, 
especially  if  offered  by  so  kind  a  hand  as  yours.  And  verily 
I  have  need  of  some  such  cordial,  for  our  position  is  abomi- 
nable, and  I  doubt  if  it  is  likely  to  change  for  the  better.  I  can 
endure  it  no  longer,  and  hasten  to  inform  you  that  I  intend 
coming  home. 

To-day  a  slight  advance  against  the  enemy,  to-morrow 
precisely  the  same  amount  of  retreat;  one  day  one  order,  the 


34  CECILE. 

next  a  counterorder,  so  it  goes  on  here  without  a  break.  If, 
by  chance,  we  do  manage  to  beat  these  Sansculottes  a  little 
and  flatter  ourselves  they  may  be  driven  back  to  their  den  in 
Paris,  the  next  minute  it  is  "Halt!"  and  then  a  Council  of 
War  is  called.  Well,  you  must  have  had  ample  experience 
of  it  all.  You  know  the  way  these  gentlemen  put  their  heads 
together  and  get  out  the  maps  and  ancient  war  reports  and 
handbooks  and  demonstrate  conclusively  therefrom  that  now 
is  the  exact  and  fitting  moment  at  which  to  act  on  the  de- 
fensive. The  French  meanwhile  have  a  fine  time  of  it,  can 
rest  from  their  late  fatigues  and  presently,  being  much  re- 
freshed, renew  the  attack  upon  us,  while  we — retreat  as  usual. 
I  tell  you,  the  whole  affair  is  getting  beyond  a  joke. 

And  so  it  has  gone  on  for  months.  Oh  Spirit  of  Frid- 
ericus  le  Grand,  descend  and  fall  into  the  midst  of  this 
crapule  like  a  thunderbolt!  What  can  you  expect?  My  blood 
boils  at  the  mere  recollection  of  that  Bischofswerder.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  campaign  he  demonstrated  clearly  to  Gen- 
eral von  Massenbach  that  he  would  do  well  not  to  buy  many 
horses.  The  farce,  he  said,  would  not  last  long,  the  army  of 
French  attorneys  was  being  well  beaten  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  in  two  months  at  latest  we  should  be  back  home  again. 
— Just  so,  Monsieur  Bischofswerder!  Despite  all  the  brave 
fighting  of  our  men  it  is  we  who  have  been  beaten  through  the 
disagreements  and  betises  of  our  generals. 

EJteu  fugaces,  I  turn  my  back  upon  the  Army! 

But  I  have  a  great  longing  to  see  you  dear  people  again, 
and  if  you  will  permit  me,  I  will  pay  you  a  visit — not  out  of 
mere  curiosity  to  see  how  you  look  as  a  Father,  my  dear 
Werner,  but  to  offer  you  in  person  my  heartiest  good  wishes. 
But  how  is  this?  A  girl?  I  thought  it  was  to  have  been  a 


RAUCHHAUPT'S  VISIT.  35 

boy?      However,  the  looking  forward  to  having  one  is  not 
half  bad  either. 

And  how  fares  it  with  the  aimable  mademoiselle?  You  know, 
Werner,  it  is  not  nice  of  you  to  have  left  me  so  long  without 
news  of  her.  All  I  heard  was  that  she  had  arrived  safely  and 
almost  immediately  afterwards  fallen  seriously  ill.  I  shall  have 
to  teach  you  manners.  Let  me  tell  you  that  I  am  very  much 
interested  in  that  beautiful  and  forlorn  young  lady  and  pitied 
her  most  deeply.  I  believe  you  kept  silence  just  to  intrigue 
me.  If  you  can  have  me  at  present,  please  send  me  a  few 
words  to  that  effect,  and  reassure  me,  at  the  same  time,  about 
the  lady. — And  now  farewell.  I  kiss  the  hands  of  the  ladies. — 
You  cannot  think  how  delighted  I  am  at  the  prospect  of  even 
a  short  respite  from  the  insupportable  conditions  here!  I  am 
like  a  slave  escaping  over  the  frontier.  Farewell  and  keep  a 
place  in  your  regard  for  your  affectionate 

VOLLRATH. 

My  great-grandfather  must  have  answered  this  letter  im- 
mediately and  in  the  affirmative,  for,  by  Annaliebe's  diary,  the 
Colonel  arrived  in  Kalbe  on  August  2oth.  In  the  interval, 
however,  she  and  the  Baroness  paid  a  short  visit  to  Frau  von 
Bismarck  in  Schonhausen,  where  they  also  met  her  nephew, 
young  Ensign  Karl,  and  had  been  much  amused  at  the  over- 
whelming impression  Cecile  evidently  made  upon  the  youth. 
He  simply  sat  and  stared  at  her  open-mouthed,  incapable  of 
addressing  a  remark  to  her.  As  to  Annaliebe's  impression  of 
Cousin  Vollrath,  it  is  apparent  from  the  following  entry  in  the 
diary  that  with  his  frankness  and  unaffected  simplicity  he 
pleased  her  greatly. 


36  CECILE. 

August  30,  1794. 

Cousin  Vollrath  arrived  here  last  Thursday.  I  confess  that 
I  was  quite  startled  when  I  first  caught  sight  of  his  huge  form 
beside  Werner  as  they  alighted  from  the  carriage  and  he 
stretched  out  his  great  hands  to  me.  He  overtops  my  Werner 
by  nearly  a  head,  and  he  is  by  no  means  short.  What  a 
thorough  Teuton  he  is  with  his  thick  blond  hair — so  like  my 
Westphalian  cousins,  rough  and  ready  and  withal  so  trusty 
and  warm-hearted.  He  was  at  home  with  me  at  once,  calling 
me  "  thou  "  from  the  first,  and  I  had  no  difficulty  in  falling 
in  with  his  affectionate  brotherly  tone.  Cecile  had  come  down 
with  me  to  welcome  the  gentlemen,  and  now  she  and  Vollrath 
were  face  to  face  once  more.  What  a  look  of  radiant  happi- 
ness lit  up  his  face  at  sight  of  her!  His  blue  eyes  positively 
beamed,  and  the  giant  bent  low  over  Cecile's  dear  little  hands 
which  she  laid  so  smilingly  in  his.  The  big  man  looked  almost 
shy  while  my  friend  thanked  him  over  and  over  again  for  his 
kindness  to  her  and  called  him  her  preserver.  I  had  to  lay 
my  hand  upon  her  mouth  to  stop  the  flood  of  fond  and  beau- 
tiful things  she  said  about  us  and  our  dear  home.  She  could 
not  find  words  to  express  how  happy  she  was  with  us.  But 
Cousin  Vollrath  listened  to  her  words  with  such  an  ecstatic, 
almost  adoring  expression  in  his  eyes,  that  I  begin  to  fear  for 
our  poor  cousin's  heart. 

A  week  later. 

Vollrath  is  in  truth  an  honest,  upright,  true-hearted  man. 
I  have  learned  to  know  him  as  such  in  these  few  days.  How 
I  could  have  wished  my  Cecile  such  a  strong  arm  to  lean  upcm 
in  the  future  !  But  I  fear,  I  fear  that  will  never  be.  Cecile 
cannot  forget,  and  will  ever  remain  true  to  the  lover  who  gave 
his  life  for  her.  I  cannot  help  thinking  at  times  that  she  is 


ANNALIEBE'S  OBSERVATIONS.  37 

dimly  conscious  of  Vollrath's  feeling  for  her — it  is  plain 
enough,  to  be  sure — and  seems  to  shrink  as  from  some  danger 
and  keep  him  off  by  a  certain  coldness  of  manner.  But  then, 
no  doubt,  the  thought  comes  over  her  how  much  she  is  in- 
debted to  him.  In  short,  she  has  often  during  the  last  few 
days  given  me  an  impression  of  hesitancy,  almost  of  vacillation, 
which  I  am  quite  unused  to  in  her.  I  am  curious  to  see  how 
it  will  end.  What  I  think  is  that  Vollrath  has  come  too  soon. 
It  is  scarcely  a  year  since  all  these  terrible  things  happened  to 
the  sweet  soul.  She  cannot  even  speak  of  them  yet  to  me,  her 
dearest  friend,  and  he  expects  her  to  listen  already  to  another 
wooing!  No,  my  poor  Vollrath,  your  hopes  will  be  dashed  to 
the  ground;  of  that  I  am  perfectly  sure. 

Shall  I  get  Werner  to  give  him  a  word  of  warning?  No, 
I  had  better  not.  Any  interference  in  such  matters  is  always 
a  mistake.  I  must  .let  things  take  their  chance. 

The  kind-hearted  writer  of  the  foregoing  lines  was  not  mis- 
taken in  her  observations.  Cecile's  charm  of  person  and  char- 
acter, and  the  certainly  affectionate  regard  she  entertained  for 
her  benefactor,  may  well  have  awakened  a  strong  feeling  for 
her  in  his  heart  or  have  intensified  what  already  existed.  For 
Cecile  seems  to  have  made  a  profound  impression  on  him 
even  in  Roermonde.  But,  as  we  all  know,  when  love  attacks 
a  man  in  later  life  it  is,  as  a  rule,  a  very  violent  business.  Then, 
too,  the  Colonel — as  my  mother,  who  remembered  her  great- 
uncle  well,  used  often  to  tell  us — had  been  in  his  youth  a  pro- 
nounced woman-hater.  And  now,  over  the  man  of  nearly  fifty 
there  swept  this  mighty  wave  of  love,  which  so  filled  his  heart 
that  he  could  not  conceive  the  possibility  of  its  not  being 
returned.  And  so  it  came  presently,  as  Annaliebe  had  feared, 


38  CECILE. 

to  a  declaration,  of  which  my  great-grandmother's  diary  con- 
tains the  following  account: 

September  10,  1794. 

And  so,  my  poor  dear  Cousin,  it  has  happened  as  I  feared 
in  my  heart  that  it  would !  Oh,  that  I  could  have  warned  you 
in  time ! 

My  Cecile  and  I  were  together  to-day  in  my  room,  each 
occupied  with  a  piece  of  needlework.  It  was  a  lovely  autumn 
day,  the  whole  sky  was  full  of  sunshine  and  the  little  feathered 
songsters  kept  up  an  incessant  twittering  in  the  great  linden 
trees  in  front  of  the  house.  My  baby  lay  asleep  in  her  cradle 
in  the  adjoining  bedroom,  the  door  of  which  was  ajar.  Pres- 
ently I  heard  the  sweet,  low,  tremulous  little  cry  I  love  so  well 
— the  sign  that  my  darling  was  hungry.  I  hastened  to  her, 
and  leaving  the  door  open  between  the  rooms,  seated  myself 
near  the  window  with  Phillinchen  at  my  breast. 

Presently  I  heard  the  door  of  the  next  room  open  and  some 
one  come  in,  and  recognised  the  heavy  footsteps  of  Cousin 
Vollrath.  I  could  not  very  well  rise  to  shut  the  door,  and  was 
therefore  perforce  obliged  to  listen  to  the  following  conversa- 
tion :  "  Oh,  Mademoiselle  Cecile,  for  once  I  find  you  alone," 
said  he  in  tones  of  joyful  surprise.  "  Bon  jour,  monsieur  le 
colonel,  avcz-vous  bien  dormif  Were  you  out  already? "  asked 
my  friend  gaily.  "  Yes,  I  was  out  with  Werner. — But  now, 
dearest  lady,  I  find  you  alone,  I  can  no  longer  restrain  the  con- 
fession that  has  long  been  on  my  lips.  You  have  so  captivated 
me  by  the  beauty  and  charm  both  of  your  person  and  your 
spirit,  that  you  have  become  and  will  ever  remain  the  object  of 
my  dearest  desires.  No — I  must  speak,  even  though  my  heart 


RAUCHHAUPT'S  PROPOSAL.  39 

tells  me  I  may  thereby,  to  my  unspeakable  and  never-ending 
regret,  lose  you  for  ever.  Oh,  let  me  tell  you  how  much—" 

I  heard  Cecile  rise  from  her  chair  as  he  spoke.  "  Oh,  my 
dear  Colonel,"  she  said  in  a  tone  of  deep  distress,  "  I  beg  you 
to  spare  me — " 

But  Vollrath  broke  in  excitedly:  "No,  dearest  girl,  the 
Judge,  the  Lawgiver,  the  God  I  worship  in  my  heart,  whom  I 
will  not  disown  and  whose  mandate  I  must  obey,  bids  me  tell 
you  that  I  love  you,  that  I  honour  you  above  all  else  in  the 
world ! " 

"  Oh,  Monsieur  le  Colonel,  in  pity  stop,"  entreated  Cecile, 
her  words  broken  by  sobs,  "  cease  to  torture  me  thus." 

But  Vollrath  seemed  no  longer  able  to  control  the  flood 
of  his  emotion.  The  words  burst  from  his  lips  like  a  torrent. 
"  I  know  that  I  have  few  claims  upon  a  woman's  love;  I  am 
neither  young  nor  handsome,  have  no  great  fortune,  and  am 
very  considerably  your  senior;  but  he  who  does  not  attempt 
to  gloss  over  his  failings  may  surely  be  permitted  to  say  a 
word  in  his  own  favour.  To  the  woman  who  can  find  it  in 
her  heart  to  love  me,  just  as  I  am,  and  at  whose  feet  I  lay  my 
best,  my  all,  to  her  I  can  unhesitatingly  promise  a  happy  life 
at  my  side.  Oh  Cecile,  give  me  a  ray  of  hope  that  I  may  in 
time  win  your  love — despair  would  rend  my  heart  if  I  thought 
I  must  give  you  up  for  ever! " 

Oh,  what  fervent,  heartfelt  words  were  these — such  as  I 
would  never  have  thought  our  good  Cousin  capable  of.  I  felt 
ashamed  of  being  even  an  involuntary  witness  of  such  deep 
emotion.  Now  that  he  paused,  I  could  hear  Cecile's  bitter 
weeping  and  then  her  low  answer  broken  by  sobs.  "  My  dear 
benefactor,"  she  murmured,  "  you  have  had  your  will  and 
spoken  and  made  me  a  confession  which  I  can  only  deplore. 


4O  CECILE. 

For  I  feared — oh,  how  I  feared  this,  and  that  I  should  have  to 
wound  the  man  who  has  done  me  great  kindness — but  it  can 
never  be.  Why  could  you  not  be  satisfied  with  our  true  and 
faithful  friendship?  By  these  words  you  deprive  me  of  my 
hardly  won  peace  of  mind. — Oh,  my  dear,  my  honoured  friend, 
I  can  never  return  the  great  gift  of  your  love:  my  love,  my 
whole  heart  belongs  alone  to  my  Hector,  who  gave  his 
precious  life  for  me.  As  long  as  I  live  I  can  never  belong  to 
another — never  love  another — only  him,  my  Hector!  " 

"  Oh  Cecile,"  said  Vollrath,  and  the  pain  in  his  voice 
smote  me  to  the  heart — "  Oh  Cecile,  this  Hector  is  dead  and 
a  whole  long  life  lies  before  you.  Believe  me,  the  blessing 
of  the  All-Merciful  would  rest  upon  our  union.  Is  the  whole 
happiness  of  my  life  nothing  to  you?  Must  I  for  ever  stand 
back  and  give  place  to  this  dead  man?  Oh,  I  beseech  you 
leave  me  a  shred  of  hope!  Only  try  me — you  shall  be  so 
happy  with  me.  I  have  no  desire  to  praise  myself,  but  this  I 
can  say  with  confidence,  that  I  will  be  a  devoted  husband  to 
you  and  carry  you  through  life  in  these  strong  arms  of  mine. 
Oh  desire  of  my  heart,  do  not  send  me  away  without  some 
little  spark  of  hope — you  are  all  my  future,  all  my  life  to  me !  " 

"  How  am  I  to  give  you  hope,  my  best  of  friends?  "  cried 
Cecile.  "  Am  I  capable  of  tearing  Hector's  memory  from  my 
heart  ?  No ;  I  have  no  hope  to  give  you,  I  must  walk  the  path 
of  life  alone!  Forgive  me  that  I  must  wound  you  so  cruelly, 
but  since  Hector's  death  my  heart  has  been  sad  and  empty 
and  will  never  cease  to  yearn  after  him !  " 

By  this  time  I  had  laid  my  little  one  back  in  her  cradle 
and  stood  wringing  my  hands  beside  the  door,  my  sympathy 
roused  to  the  highest  pitch.  My  weeping  Cecile's  sorrow  and 


CECILE'S  REFUSAL.  4! 

distress,  poor  Vollrath's  grievous  pain,  touched  me  to  the 
quick,  and  yet  I  dared  not  go  and  comfort  them. 

Silence  fell  between  them  after  Cecile's  last  words  and  only 
her  sobs  were  audible  in  the  room. 

Then  came  Vollrath's  grave  sad  voice :  "  Then,  Baroness 
— if  that  is  so — farewell,  and  forgive  an  unhappy  man  who  has 
buoyed  himself  up  with  a  false  hope.  Farewell,  Mademoi- 
selle!" The  door  closed  behind  him. 

I  flew  to  my  poor  darling,  who  had  flung  herself  into  her 
chair  and  covered  her  tear-drenched  face  with  her  hands,  and 
gathering  her  into  my  arms,  let  her  weep  out  her  grief  upon 
my  loving  breast.  When  I  gently  sought  to  comfort  her — 
"  Oh  Annaliebe,"  she  sobbed,  "  why  must  I  deal  such  a  blow 
to  this  beloved  friend  who  holds  so  high  a  place  in  my  heart! 
How  gladly  would  I  be  able  to  return  his  love,  seeing,  too,  what 
great  joy  I  should  thereby  occasion  to  you  both,  my  best  and 
dearest  of  friends.  But  I  cannot — I  cannot.  Hector's  image 
never  leaves  me,  day  or  night!  "  And  the  hot  tears  rushed  to 
her  eyes  and  she  clasped  her  beautiful  arms  about  my  neck. 
"  No,  I  cannot,  I  cannot,"  she  repeated,  sobbing.  And  I  wept 
with  her  and  soothed  and  comforted  the  dear  creature  as  best 
I  could.  Presently,  when  she  had  grown  a  little  quieter,  she 
said  she  would  keep  the  past  from  me  no  longer.  "  I  must  tell 
you  something  of  my  story,"  she  went  on.  "  My  life  has  not 
been  long  in  years,  and  yet  so  full  of  trouble  and  adversity. 
When  you,  dear  sister  of  my  heart,  shall  have  heard  all,  you 
will  not  charge  me  with  ingratitude  in  what  I  have  done  to- 
day. You  will  clearly  understand  that  for  me  there  can  be  no 
second  love  while  I  live." 

I  told  her  then  how  happy  I  should  be  in  her  confidence, 
but  as  her  emotions  had  been  very  naturally  much  excited  by 


42  CECILE. 

Vollrath's  wooing,  she  was  to  take  her  time  and  regain  her 
tranquillity  before  beginning  upon  the  recital  of  her  experi- 
ences. 

These  were  the  agitating  events  of  this  day.  Cousin  Voll- 
rath  left  us  this  evening  in  a  heartbroken  state  and  without 
having  spoken  again  to  Cecile.  I  can  only  close  this  account 
with  the  lament:  Poor,  poor  Vollrath,  why  could  it  not  have 
been  as  you  wished?  And  alas,  poor  Cecile! 

For  a  while  after  this,  it  was  very  quiet  in  the  old  house  at 
Kalbe.  During  the  next  few  weeks  the  diary  contains  one  or 
two  entries,  according  to  which  Annaliebe  was  far  from  satis- 
fied with  her  friend's  state  of  health.  On  the  loth  of  October, 
for  instance,  she  says :  "  Cecile  sleeps  badly  and  has  grown 
very  low-spirited  and  silent  once  more.  I  could  find  it  my 
heart  to  be  vexed  with  our  poor  Vollrath  for  having  upset  her 
again  by  his  premature  declaration." 

At  last,  towards  the  end  of  October,  Cecile  seems  to  have 
regained  her  peace  of  mind,  for,  recalling  her  promise  to 
Annaliebe,  she  begins  to  relate  to  her  the  story  of  her  life, 
which  my  great-grandmother  has  duly  set  down  in  her  diary. 


CHAPTER  V. 
CECILE'S  STORY. 

October  28,  1794. 

TO-DAY,  Cecile  began  to  tell  me  her  story.  As  even  the 
beginning  of  the  account  includes  much  that  is  interesting  and 
historically  important,  I  will  do  my  best  to  set  it  down  as  far 
as  I  can  remember  in  her  own  words.  Who  knows  but  what 
at  some  future  time,  when  I  shall  long  have  passed  away,  this 
record  of  an  eye-witness  of  the  overthrow  and  upheaval  of  all 
existing  institutions  in  France  may  not  be  of  value. 

After  dinner  to-day  we  went  to  my  room,  drew  up 
our  chairs  before  the  cheerfully  crackling  fire,  and  Cecile  be- 
gan: 

"  As  you  know,  dear  Annaliebe,  I  was  born  on  the  2Oth  of 
September,  1763.  My  parents  were  living  then  at  the  Chateau 
de  Mont  Courtot,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Poitiers,  and  there  I 
passed  the  first  years  of  my  childhood.  My  father  had  been  an 
officer  of  the  Garde  Mousquetaires  in  Paris,  where  he  met 
my  mother,  Anne  de  Pralins,  at  that  time  a  Maid  of  Honour, 
and  married  her.  My  parents  retired  to  Mont  Courtot,  my 
father  receiving  the  title  of  Capitaine  Honoraire.  There  was 
evidently  a  very  agreeable  social  circle  in  the  neighbourhood 
in  those  days,  and  my 'parents  were  specially  intimate  with  the 
family  of  the  Vicomte  de  Trellissak  of  Chateau  Trellissak,  the 

43 


44  CECILE'S  STORY. 

next  estate  to  ours.  When  I  was  little  my  most  constant  play- 
mate was  the  only  son  of  this  family,  Hector.  He  was  three  years 
older  than  I  and  was,  even  then,  very  much  attached  to  me, 
so  that  his  people  often  called  me  laughingly  his  petite  fiancee. 
When  I  was  fourteen  I  was  sent  to  the  Convent  of  the  Sacre 
Coeur  at  Fontenay  and  there  received  my  education;  but 
though  I  came  home  at  intervals  I  lost  sight  of  my  old  play- 
fellow Hector.  He  entered  the  regiment  of  the  Queen's 
Dragoons  at  Luneville,  and  it  was  years  before  I  saw  him 
again.  Later  on,  as  the  climate  of  the  Vendee  did  not  seem 
to  suit  my  rather  delicate  mother,  we  settled  again  in  Paris, 
my  father  re-entered  his  old  regiment,  and  in  1781  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  I  was  then  pre- 
sented at  Court  and  made  my  debut  in  society,  and  for  two 
years  took  part  in  all  the  festivities  arranged  by  the  young 
Queen  Marie  Antoinette. 

"  It  was  in  the  year  1783  and  I  was  just  twenty,  when  my 
dear  mother  received  a  letter  from  the  Princess  de  Lamballe, 
then  at  her  Chateau  of  Genevais  in  Savoy,  begging  her  to  con- 
fide me  to  her  care  as  lady-in-waiting. 

"  My  parents  were  not  sorry  for  this  opportunity  of  re- 
moving me  from  the  turmoil  of  the  great  city;  for  the  ferment 
had  already  begun  in  Paris,  and  the  teachings  of  a  Rousseau, 
a  Diderot,  a  Voltaire,  had  so  stirred  up  the  excitable  elements 
in  the  people  that  it  frequently  came  to  violent  scenes  in  the 
open  street.  My  father  and  mother  therefore  gladly  gave 
their  consent  to  my  occupying  this  position  in  the  household 
of  the  Princess,  whom  they  had  known  of  old  and  for  whom 
they  entertained  the  highest  regard. 

"  In  July  of  the  same  year  I  went  to  the  Princess  at 
Genevais. 


"PHILIPPE  EGALIT&"  45 

"  Marie  Therese  Louise  of  Savoy-Carignan  had  not  long 
been  a  widow,  having  lost  her  husband,  Prince  Stanislaus  de 
Bourbon-Penthievre,  after  barely  fifteen  months  of  wedded 
life.  He  was  a  grandson  of  that  Comte  de  Toulouse,  the  son 
of  Louis  XIV.  and  Madame  de  Montespan,  for  whom  the 
king  had  revived  the  ancient  dukedom  of  Penthievre. 

"  The  father-in-law  of  my  Princess,  Jean  Marie  de  Bour- 
bon, Due  de  Penthievre,  was  the  ultimate  heir  of  all  the  legiti- 
mate children  of  Louis  XIV.  and  consequently  enormously 
rich,  perhaps  the  wealthiest  man  of  his  day  in  all  France. 

"  He  had  but  two  children,  Stanislaus  and  a  daughter, 
Marie  Louise  de  Bourbon,  who  was  married  to  the  Due 
d'Orleans,  the  despicable  renegade  '  Philippe  EgaliteV  He 
led  a  life  of  riot  and  debauchery  and,  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  joined  the  Jacobin  Club,  hoping  by  their  assist- 
ance to  place  himself  upon  the  throne  of  France. 

"  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  this  unprincipled  villain 
brought  about  my  sweet  Princess's  death.  Of  course  I  have 
no  actual  proofs  of  this,  any  more  than  it  can  be  proved  that 
Orleans  was  the  leader  of  the  armed  mob  who  in  1789  broke 
into  Versailles  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  murdering  the 
Queen;  but  I  shall  go  to  my  grave  saying  that  he  caused  his 
sister-in-law,  my  beloved  mistress,  to  be  murdered  by  hired 
assassins  in  order  to  possess  himself  of  the  entire  fortune  of 
his  father-in-law.  And  well  may  he  be  credited  with  such  a 
crime,  he  whose  whole  life  was  one  succession  of  fraud,  hypoc- 
risy, and  treachery !  * 

"  Forgive  this  digression,  dear  Annaliebe,  but  I  cannot 

*  Through  the  children  of  Philippe  Egalite,  one  of  whom  was  after- 
wards King  Louis  Philippe,  the  present  Orleans  family  has  come  into 
possession  of  these  immense  revenues,  reckoned  at  fourteen  million 


46  CECILE'S  STORY. 

even  think  of  that  wretch — who  ruined  my  life,  too — without 
being  overcome  with  horror  and  disgust  at  the  world  as  a 
whole  where  such  a  monster  is  allowed  to  live  and  carry  out 
his  fell  designs!  But  I  will  return  to  my  story. 

"  Since  her  young  husband's  untimely  death,  the  Princess 
de  Lamballe  had  lived  in  great  retirement  at  the  Chateau 
Genevais  on  the  Rhone,  and  there  I  joined  her  in  1783.  Oh, 
Annaliebe,  how  shall  I  find  words  to  describe  that  incompar- 
able, that  angelic  woman!  I  was  soon  devoted  heart  and  soul 
to  the  sweet  and  noble-minded  lady,  whose  unusual  culture 
and  exquisite  beauty  enthralled  me,  and  I  looked  up  to  her  as 
to  a  high  ideal.  You  will  agree  with  me,  I  am  sure;  one  oc- 
casionally meets  with  instances  of  such  whole-hearted  admira- 
tion of  a  young  girl  for  an  older  woman.  I  idolized  her,  and 
her  seventeen  years  of  seniority  made  no  difference  to  us  what- 
ever. 

"  We  lived  quite  to  ourselves  at  Chateau  Genevais,  and 
many  were  the  happy  hours  I  spent  wandering  about  the  beau- 
tiful park  arm-in-arm  with  the  Princess,  who  had  retained  all 
her  youthful  beauty  and  with  her  cendre  curls  and  delicately 
fair  complexion  looked  years  younger  than  she  was. 

"  Those  were  indeed  days  never  to  be  forgotten,  in  the 
wonderful  sunny  South,  when  we  passed  most  of  our  time  in 
reading  and  discussing  with  one  another  the  higher  ideals  of 
life.  There  was  little  or  no  society  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
the  quiet  routine  of  our  rural  life  was  only  broken  by  an  occa- 
sional visit  to  the  Court  of  Savoy. 

"Thus  a  year  went  by,  and  then  came  a  day— the  I5th  of 
June — when  my  Princess  resumed  her  connection  with  the 

francs.  The  present  Due  de  Penthievre  is  the  son  of  the  Prince  de 
Joinville,  Pierre  Philippe  d'Orleans  — Note  by  the  Editor. 


THE  PRINCESS  DE  LAMBALLE. 


47 


Royal  family  in  Paris,  and  so  took  the  first  step  upon  that  path 
which  was  to  lead  her  to  her  dreadful  doom. 

"  We  were  sitting  that  evening  on  one  of  the  verandas  of 
the  chateau  overlooking  the  Park;  a  deep  blue,  star-gemmed 
southern  sky  curved  over  the  landscape  like  a  vast  bell.  The 
outline  of  the  great  Alpine  chain  showed  dimly  through  the 
gathering  gloom,  and  far  away  on  the  horizon  some  snow- 
capped peak  glittered  mysteriously  under  the  starlight. 

"  Below  us  the  Rhone  gleamed  and  sparkled,  reflecting  the 
lights  in  the  windows  of  the  little  town  of  Genevais  on  its 
banks.  Here  and  there  a  boat  rocked  on  the  rippling  waves 
and  the  melodious  song  of  the  boatman  floated  up  to  us,  while 
before  us  lay  the  verdant  terraces  of  the  park  with  their 
shadowy  paths  and  tropical  plants. 

"  We  had  become  silent ;  the  Princess  leaned  her  white  arm 
on  the  marble  balustrade,  and  her  blue  eyes  gazed  dreamily 
across  to  the  distant  mountains  behind  which  the  full  moon 
was  rising  majestically  into  the  heavens. 

"  Suddenly  the  blare  of  a  posthorn  in  the  'courtyard  broke 
the  silence,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  Princess's  valet  de 
ckambre  brought  her  a  large  missive  sealed  with  the  arms  of 
France.  It  was  a  letter  from  the  Queen  to  her  well-beloved 
Friend  and  Cousin,  my  dearest  mistress.  The  title  Cousin 
had  its  justification  in  the  fact  that  the  Princess  was  related 
to  the  Royal  House  both  through  her  mother,  a  Grand- 
Duchess  of  Tuscany,  and  her  late  husband,  a  Bourbon.  This 
letter,  as  well  as  other  documents  relating  to  these  events,  I 
have  kept  by  me.  Here  it  is." 

With  that,  Cecile  unfastened  a  large  portfolio  and  took 
from  it  an  envelope  containing  the  following  autograph  letter 


48  CECILE'S  STORY. 

from  the  Queen  of  France,  written  in  a  clear,  almost  manly 
hand.  Cecile  permitted  me  to  copy  it  afterwards.  It  runs  as 
follows : 

"  PARIS,  Ic  12  juin  1783. 
"A  la  Princesse  Lamballe: 

"  Je  ne  puis  resister  au  desir  de  profiter  de  Toccasion,  qui 
s'offre,  pour  vous  ecrire,  ma  chere  Lamballe,  quelques  lignes. 
Les  circonstances  actuelles  occupent  mon  ame  trop,  pour  ne 
pas  etre  sensible  de  votre  lettre  et  de  votre  amitie  douce. 
Vous  etes  de  ces  cceurs,  qui  ne  changent  jamais  et  qui  le 
malheur  rend  encore  plus  aimables.  Soyez  assuree,  mon 
chere  cceur,  que  mon  amitie  pour  vous  est  inebranlable  et  que 
je  ne  pense  changer.  Je  ne  vous  dis  rien  des  affaires  de  la 
ville,  vous  savez  tout  ce  qui  se  passe.  II  est  impossible  de 
sortir  sans  etre  insulte  une  douzaine  de  fois.  Je  reste  souvent 
pendant  plusieurs  jours  a  ma  chambre  et  j'y  suis  seul.  Alors 
il  me  tarde  de  vous  voir.  O  mon  chere  coeur,  venez  a  moi, 
j'ai  besoin  de  vous ;  venez  a  moi  et  occupez  de  nouveau  votre 
place  chez  moi. 

"  Adieu,  mon  amie  divine,  je  vous  embrasse  de  tout  mon 
coeur.  Ecrivez  moi  bientot  quand  vous  viendrez. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

[Translation.] 

"  PARIS,  June  12,  1783. 

"  To  the  Princess  Lamballe: 

"  I  cannot  resist  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity 
which  offers  for  sending  you  these  few  lines,  my  dear  Lam- 
balle. The  actual  circumstances  of  my  life  at  present  weigh 


LETTER  FROM  THE  QUEEN.  49 

too  heavily  upon  my  spirit  for  me  not  to  be  touched  by  your 
letter  and  the  expression  of  your  sweet  friendship.  Yours  is 
one  of  those  hearts  which  never  change  and  which  misfortune 
only  renders  more  loving  and  lovable.  Rest  assured,  my  dear 
heart,  that  my  love  for  you  is  unwavering,  that  I  have  no 
thought  of  ever  feeling  otherwise.  I  need  say  nothing  of  the 
affairs  of  the  city — you  know  all  that  is  happening.  It  is  im- 
possible to  go  outside  the  doors  without  being  insulted  a 
dozen  times.  I  often  remain  in  my  rooms  for  days  at  a  time, 
and  I  am  alone.  At  such  times  I  miss  you  sadly.  Oh,  my 
dear  friend,  come  to  me,  I  have  need  of  you;  come  and  oc- 
cupy your  old  place  at  my  side. 

"Adieu,  my  angelic  friend,  I  embrace  you  with  all  my 
heart.  Write  me  soon  when  you  are  coming. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

"  Before  her  husband's  death  my  Princess  had  filled  the 
posts  of  First  Lady-in-waiting  and  Mistress  of  the  Ceremo- 
nies to  the  Queen,"  Cecile  continued,  "  but  had  relinquished 
this  on  becoming  a  widow  and  lived  in  strict  seclusion  on  her 
estates.  And  now  she  was  to  return  to  dreadful  Paris !  For 
she  was  determined  from  the  first  moment  to  follow  the 
Queen's  call.  Any  one  who  appealed  to  her  heart  and  her 
friendship  never  did  so  in  vain. 

"  She  never  paused  to  weigh  the  question,  but,  in  spite  of 
my  entreaties  to  the  contrary,  wrote  to  the  Queen  that  she 
would  come. 

"  But  none  the  less  I  am  thankful  now  to  remember  that 
I  did  try  to  dissuade  my  angelic  mistress  from  her  purpose 
and  begged  her  to  remain  in  our  peaceful  retreat.  If  she 
could  have  foreseen  the  dire  consequences  to  herself  of  this 


SO  CECILE'S  STORY. 

sacrifice  to  friendship !  But  I  believe  that  even  that  knowledge 
would  not  have  deterred  her  from  carrying  out  her  intentions. 
And  so  we  migrated  to  Paris  and  exchanged  our  tranquil 
home  for  the  witches'  cauldron  of  the  capital  in  which  every 
base  passion  of  the  populace  seethed  and  flared  high,  menac- 
ing destruction  to  the  very  throne  itself. 

"  As  you  may  imagine,  my  position  at  Court  as  lady-in- 
waiting  to  the  Princess  was  at  first  somewhat  peculiar,  seeing 
that  the  Princess  must  always  be  near  the  Queen  and,  at  the 
same  time,  refused  to  part  from  me.  Therefore  I  presently 
became,  in  a  way,  maid-of-honour  to  the  Queen  as  well,  rank- 
ing as  the  youngest  of  her  ladies. 

At  that  time  there  were  six  '  dames  de  la  reine ' :  Mes- 
demoiselles  de  Liancourt  and  d'Estaing,  de  Noailles,  de 
Laval,  and  de  la  Barre  and  myself.  We  were  under  the  charge 
of  the  Second  Lady-in-waiting,  Madame  de  Noailles,  and  the 
Due  de  Breze  was  Master  of  the  Ceremonies.  Among  the 
maids-of-honour  I  soon  attached  myself  most  to  the  amiable 
and  lovely  Adelaide  de  Noailles.  We  became  inseparable  and 
loved  one  another  tenderly. 

"  And  now,  cherie,  in  order  to  give  you  a  faithful  picture 
of  those  times,  I  must  describe  the  impression  the  royal  pair — 
whom  I  may  say  I  saw  daily — made  upon  me  personally.  As 
my  duties  often  kept  me  for  hours  in  their  presence,  I  had 
every  opportunity  of  gaining  an  accurate  conception  of  these 
two  noble  victims  to  a  nation's  passion. 

"  I  will  begin  with  the  Queen,  with  whom  I  came  most 
frequently  in  contact  and  therefore  knew  the  best. 

"  Here,"  proceeded  Cecile,  taking  a  lithographed  copy  of 
a  picture  from  her  portfolio  and  handing  it  to  me,  "  is  a  fairly 
accurate  copy  of  the  painting  by  Senefelder  which  represents 


THE  QUEEN.  51 

her  with  her  children.  Yes — that  is  my  beautiful  royal  mis- 
tress. Look  at  the  picture  while  I  tell  you  about  her  and 
you  will  the  better  understand  my  description.  On  her  right 
stands  the  Princess  Marie  Therese,  on  her  left  the  Dauphin 
Louis  Joseph,  who  died  in  1789,  and  on  her  lap  my  poor  little 
pet,  the  Dauphin  Louis,  at  that  time  Due  de  Normandie,  who 
afterwards  came  to  such  a  piteous  end.  This  little  picture 
was  given  to  me  by  Madame  de  Tourzel,  the  governess  of  the 
royal  children. 

"  Marie  Antoinette  was  tall  and  slender,  and  the  prevail- 
ing style  of  coiffure,  in  which  her  fair,  slightly  powdered  hair 
was  piled  up  high  above  her  forehead,  made  her  look  even 
taller.  Her  large,  dark  blue  eyes  were  wonderfully  beautiful, 
their  expression  being  for  the  most  part  languishing  and 
melancholy,  though  again  they  could  sparkle  archly.  Her 
natural  temperament  indeed  was  very  gay.  The  slightly  aqui- 
line nose,  the  decidedly  large  but  exquisitely  shaped  mouth, 
and  the — in  her  case  greatly  mitigated — Habsburg  chin  made 
her  closely  resemble  her  handsome  mother  Maria  Theresa  in 
her  youth.  The  statuesque  beauty  of  her  shoulders,  arms,  and 
hands,  like  sculptured  marble,  was  still  further  enhanced  by 
the  whitest  skin  you  can  imagine. 

"  She  had  been  most  carefully  brought  up,  and  had  she 
not  been  betrothed  so  early — she  was  only  15 — her  charac- 
ter would  have  had  more  time  to  form  itself  under  her 
mother's  wise  direction.  She  would  doubtless  then  have 
learned  to  curb  the  great  vivacity  of  her  imagination  which, 
at  the  time  I  speak  of,  frequently  led  her  into  an  appearance 
of  frivolity. 

"  Let  me  show  you  the  first  letter  Marie  Antoinette — then 
15  years  of  age — wrote  to  the  Dauphin,  her  fiance.  I  do  not 


52  CECILE'S  STORY. 

know  how  the  Marquis  de  Stainville,  who  gave  me  this  copy, 
came  by  the  original,  but  he  assured  me  that  the  copy  was  an 
absolutely  correct  one. 

"  The  letter  testifies  fully  to  the  simplicity  and  girlish 
charm  of  the  youthful  Princess.  Here  it  is : 

"  VIENNE,  le  27  mars  1770. 

"  Monsieur  le  Dauphin  et  cher  frere! 

"  Je  vous  remercie  du  langage  bienveillant  que  vous  tenez 
sur  moi.  J'en  suis  profondement  touchee  et  bien  honoree  et 
je  sens  quelles  obligeances  tant  de  bonte  de  votre  part 
m'impose. 

"  L'exemple  et  les  preceptes  de  ma  mere  tendre  et  glori- 
euse  m'ont  eleves  a  remplir  tous  mes  devoirs  et  a  1'aide  du 
bon  Dieu  j'espere  qu'il  me  sera  possible,  employant  toutes  mes 
forces,  de  me  montrer  digne  de  ma  nouvelle  destination.  Vous 
desirez,  que  mon  consentement  a  votre  choix  accompagne 
celui  de  rimperatrice-Reine  et  il  faut,  vous  dites,  que  vous 
me  receviez  aussi  par  moi  meme.  Je  suis  vous  repondre, 
parcequ'elle  m'y  autorise,  que  j'ai  accepte  les  ordres  de  ma 
mere  avec  autant  de  plaisir  que  de  veneration.  Vous  trou- 
verez  en  moi  une  epouse  fidele  et  devouee,  qui  n'aura  pas 
d'autre  pensee  qu'a  vous  plaire,  de  gagner  votre  affection  et 
de  se  prouver  la  fille  digne  de  votre  aiieul  illustre. 

"  Avec  ces  sentiments  sinceres,  je  m'apelle,  Monsieur  le 
Dauphin  et  cher  frere, 

"  Votre  bien  affectionee  et  devouee 

<4  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 


THE  QUEEN'S  LETTER  TO  THE  DAUPHIN.       53 

[Translation.] 

"  VIENNA,  March  27,  1770. 

"Monsieur  le  Dauphin  and  well-beloved  Brother: 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  kind  sentiments  you  express  towards 
me.  I  am  profoundly  touched  and  highly  honoured  and  am 
sensible  of  the  obligations  so  much  goodness  on  your  part 
imposes  on  me. 

"  By  example  and  precept,  my  tender  and  renowned 
Mother  has  instructed  me  in  all  the  duties  incumbent  upon 
me,  and  with  the  help  of  God  and  by  exerting  my  utmost 
efforts  I  trust  I  may  be  enabled  to  show  myself  worthy  of  the 
position  that  lies  before  me.  You  desire  that  my  personal 
consent  to  your  choice  should  accompany  that  of  the  Em- 
press-Queen, so  that,  as  you  express  it,  you  may  receive  my 
hand  also  from  myself.  I  can  reply,  since  she  authorises  me 
to  do  so,  that  I  have  accepted  my  Mother's  orders  with  equal 
pleasure  and  respect.  In  me  you  shall  find  a  faithful  and  de- 
voted wife  who  will  have  no  other  thought  than  to  please 
you,  to  win  your  regard,  and  to  prove  a  worthy  daughter  of 
your  illustrious  grandsire. 

"  With  these  sincere  sentiments,  I  subscribe  myself,  Mon- 
sieur le  Dauphin  and  well-beloved  Brother, 

"  Your  most  affectionate  and  devoted 

"MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

"  The  marriage  took  place  on  the  i6th  of  May  of  the  same 
year,  and  the  Dauphine  entered  France  and  was  immediately 
plunged  into  the  midst  of  the  extremely  difficult  conditions 
which  prevailed  during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XV.  My  friend  Adelaide  de  Noailles,  already  a  maid-of- 


54  CECILE'S  STORY. 

honour  in  those  days,  told  me  that  there  had  been  but  little 
affection  between  the  young  people  at  first.  Their  character 
and  temperament  were  too  dissimilar,  and  the  Dauphin's 
slow-moving  intelligence  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  sport- 
ive wit  and  childlike  vivacity  of  his  girl-wife.  When  they 
came  to  the  throne,  however,  and  after  the  birth  of  their  first 
child  this  was  all  changed  and  their  union  became  a  most 
tender  one.  This  I,  too,  can  thoroughly  endorse  from  per- 
sonal observation. 

"  Very  soon  the  King  permitted  his  youthful  consort  a 
certain  amount  of  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  then  it  was  that  she  first  set  the  all-powerful  party 
of  the  nobility  against  her. 

"  With  regard  to  the  King,  my  dear  Annaliebe,  I  can  only 
say  that  he  was  one  of  the  best  and  kindest  of  men  and  stood 
intellectually  much  higher  than  is  popularly  declared.  But  his 
mind  worked  slowly  and  he  had  great  difficulty  in  coming  to 
a  decision  in  critical  moments.  Thus  it  came  about  that  he 
soon  depended  on  the  Queen  to  decide  for  him. 

"  But  at  the  root  of  the  matter  lay  the  fact  that  it  was  not 
in  him  to  be  a  King,  as  we  French  understand  the  term.  We 
are  essentially  a  nation  that  demands  a  representation  full  of 
pomp  and  glory  and  splendour,  and  prides  itself  on  Joeing 
looked  up  to  by  other  nations  with  admiration  and  wonder. 
This  position  it  undoubtedly  held  under  the  hapless  King's 
two  predecessors,  Louis  XIV.,  who  thoroughly  understood 
how  to  manage  his  people,  and  Louis  XV.,  the  Well-Beloved, 
though  both  these  monarchs  tyrannised  over  and  drained  the 
nation  at  every  available  point.  And  now,  after  these  mag- 
nificent potentates  conies  an  unpretentious,  almost  puritan- 
ically simple  Prince  who  never  offered  the  people  any  oppor- 


THE  QUEEN'S  PLEASURES.  55 

tunity  for  satisfying  their  craving  for  glory  and  display.  What 
was  Paris  to  do  with  such  a  man? 

"  Only  now  did  they  begin  to  condemn  the  Monarchy  as 
an  effete  institution;  only  now  did  the  teachings  of  the  free- 
thinkers such  as  Rousseau  and  Lafayette,  which  were  to 
sound  the  death-knell  of  the  King,  begin  to  take  hold  on  the 
people.  The  sins  of  his  fathers  were  visited  upon  him. 

"  And  alas,  the  influence  of  the  fair  Queen  was  always  in- 
imical to  the  King's  interests.  As  an  Austrian  she  had,  from 
the  first,  been  detested  by  the  nation  at  large;  she  offended 
the  nobility,  and  then,  when  they  turned  the  cold  shoulder  on 
her,  absorbed  herself  in  the  life  of  amusement  which  appealed 
to  her;  and  by  her  heedless  extravagance  often  gave  the  peo- 
ple real  cause  for  complaint. 

"  Of  this,  however,  Marie  Antoinette  took  little  notice; 
light-hearted  and  volatile,  she  thought  of  nothing  but  an  ever- 
changing  round  of  fresh  amusements.  She  possessed  a  lively 
fancy  and  frequently  devised  new  and  preposterous  modes,  and 
her  expenditure  was  fabulous.  The  anger  of  the  people  waxed 
loud  as  they  saw  vast  sums,  destined  properly  for  useful  pur- 
poses, squandered  on  the  costly  pleasures  of  the  Queen. 

"  It  was,  unfortunately,  not  long  before  her  reputation  be- 
gan to  suffer,  for  she  cast  off  all  trammels  of  Court  etiquette 
and  assembled  round  her  a  group  of  dubious  persons  with 
whom  she  felt  herself  quite  at  ease.  My  beloved  Princess  lost 
no  opportunity  of  warning  and  admonishing  her,  but  to  no 
purpose;  neither  she  nor  any  of  the  more  conscientious  ladies 
of  the  Court  had  the  smallest  influence  over  the  Queen.  She 
led  her  own  life  unconcernedly  at  Versailles  and  the  Petit 
Trianon,  and  even  at  the  time  when  we  returned  to  Paris  and 
the  waves  of  the  Revolution  were  already  breaking  against  the 


56  CECILE'S  STORY. 

foot  of  the  Throne,  she  cared  not  one  jot  for  the  opinion  of 
the  people. 

"  There  was  at  that  time  a  trio  of  persons  of  more  or  less 
doubtful  character  who  had  great  influence  with  the  Queen 
and  consequently  on  the  government.  These  were,  firstly 
Monsieur  Leonard,  the  Queen's  hairdresser,  then  her  modiste, 
Mademoiselle  Bertin,  and  thirdly  a  certain  elderly  person,  a 
Demoiselle  Montasin,  the  wealthy  directess  of  a  theatre. 

"  Now  as  the  vagaries  invented  by  her  Majesty  and  this 
precious  trio  usually  required  the  assistance  of  the  stage  to 
put  them  into  shape,  comediennes  like  Contat,  Sacuval,  and 
others  were  presently  admitted  to  the  consultations  in  the 
Queen's  apartments,  and  the  whole  clique  became  in  time  a 
real  power  through  whom  almost  anything  at  Court  could  be 
obtained. 

"  Unfortunately  these  actresses  led  anything  but  reputable 
lives.  The  people  declared  them  cocottcs,  and  came  ere  long 
to  believe  that  their  intercourse  with  the  Queen  must  in- 
evitably affect  her  morals.  Soon  they  openly  accused  her  of 
indiscretion,  but  I  would  put  my  hand  in  the  fire  for  it  that 
Marie  Antoinette,  in  spite  of  this  intercourse,  was  ever  the 
purest  of  women  and  most  faithful  of  wives.  She  never  did 
anything  to  justify  such  accusations,  but  she  should  have 
avoided  even  the  appearance  of  evil.  In  her  consciousness  of 
purity  and  her  sovereign  contempt  for  the  opinion  of  the 
masses  she  felt  herself  beyond  the  range  of  these  paltry  calum- 
nies, and  yet  there  lay  the  cause  of  her  later  woes. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  we  ladies  had  naturally  a  very 
difficult  position,  for  our  reputation  suffered  equally  with  the 
Queen's  in  the  popular  estimation.  They  even  had  the 
effrontery  to  lay  all  manner  of  scandalous  things  to  the  charge 


DEATH  OF  THE  DAUPHIN.  57 

of  my  spotless  Princess;  but  I  can  give  my  solemn  word  that 
we  were  all  as  innocent  of  wrong-doing  as  she,  and  that  no  one 
of  us  ever  offended  against  her  honour. 

"  It  was  in  1784,  when  we  had  been  about  a  year  at  Court, 
that  the  dreadful  affair  of  the  Diamond  Necklace  occurred; 
but  I  had  better  reserve  my  account  of  that  till  another  time, 
it  would  lead  me  too  far  from  the  present  subject.  In  this  mat- 
ter also  the  Queen  was  absolutely  blameless,  as  I,  who  in  a 
measure  shared  in  the  accusation,  have  the  best  reason  to 
know,  besides  possessing  documents  which  will  prove  it  con- 
clusively to  you.  But  I  firmly  believe  that  Philippe  d'Orleans 
had  a  hand  in  the  odious  business,  as  in  everything  brought 
against  our  beloved  Queen. 

"  This  scandal  of  course  was  most  injurious  to  the  Queen's 
reputation,  and  formed  another  strand  of  the  web  that  was 
being  woven  about  the  unhappy  lady. 

"  Some  years  passed,  the  Revolution  crept  nearer  step  by 
step,  the  state  of  the  finances  grew  ever  more  desperate  and 
the  pamphlets  against  the  Queen  bolder  and  more  scurrilous 
in  tone.  My  Princess  at  last  succeeded  in  opening  her 
Majesty's  eyes  to  the  peril  that  menaced  her  and  her  family 
and  to  startle  her  out  of  her  thoughtless  indifference.  Then, 
indeed,  she  saw  clearly  what  she  had  been  blind  to  before,  and 
from  that  moment  her  levity  vanished.  The  death  of  her  eldest 
son,  the  Dauphin  Louis,  who  succumbed  to  measles  in  the 
March  of  1789,  deepened  the  impression  and  transformed  the 
light-hearted  Queen  into  a  grave  and  anxious  woman  who 
had  begun  to  tremble  for  the  lives  of  those  dear  to  her  and  to 
steel  herself  for  resistance  to  the  foe.  Brought  face  to  face 
with  danger,  she  proved  herself  a  brave  and  resolute  heroine, 
whose  courage  and  prompt  energy  might  have  saved  the  tot- 


$8  CECILE'S  STORY. 

tering  Monarchy  had  she  been  able  to  inspire  her  husband 
with  the  same  qualities. 

"  One  horrible  day  of  that  period  stands  out  most  vividly 
before  me — the  5th  of  October,  1789 — when  the  wretch  Mail- 
lard  suddenly  appeared  before  Versailles  at  the  head  of  a  wild 
band  of  drunken  men  and  women.  At  their  shouts  the  Queen, 
accompanied  by  her  husband  and  children,  stepped  out  upon 
the  balcony  of  the  palace  and  showed  herself  to  the  people;  but 
scarcely  had  the  mob  caught  sight  of  her  than  the  foul- 
mouthed  harpies  began  to  yell :  '  Down  with  the  Austrian — 
strike  her  dead!  Revenge!  Revenge!  But  let  the  King  and 
the  royal  children  go  unharmed!'  I  can  see  her  now,  how 
with  a  regal  gesture  she  took  the  two  children,  placed  them 
in  the  King's  arms,  and  led  him  back  into  the  room.  Then, 
with  head  held  high,  she  opened  the  door  again  and,  deaf 
to  our  entreaties,  returned  alone  to  the  balcony.  So  she  stood 
with  her  arms  crossed  upon  her  bosom  and  gazed  down  calmly 
at  the  seething  crowd  beneath  her  feet.  Oh,  the  peerless  cour- 
age of  her  attitude,  the  dauntless  gaze  of  those  great  blue  eyes! 
Suddenly  a  deep  silence  fell  upon  the  mob.  Was  it  the  all- 
conquering  beauty  of  the  woman,  was  it  the  haughty  intrepidity 
of  the  Queen  that  overawed  the  rabble?  Perhaps  both.  The 
next  moment  a  loud  voice  cried,  '  Vive  la  reine! '  and  a  great 
shout  of  '  Vive  la  reine! '  went  up  from  the  assembled  crowd. 
Ah,  then  you  should  have  seen  the  smile  of  pride  and  triumph 
that  flashed  into  the  Queen's  face!  She  bent  her  head  slightly 
as  if  in  acknowledgment,  and  stepped  back  into  the  room. 
For  the  moment  she  had  got  the  upper  hand,  but,  alas,  only 
for  the  moment. 

"  The  very  next  morning  at  five  o'clock  occurred  that 
monstrous  attempt  to  assassinate  the  Queen  of  which  I  am 


ATTEMPT  TO  ASSASSINATE  THE  QUEEN.  59 

perfectly  persuaded  Philippe  d'Orleans  was  the  dastardly  in- 
stigator. Adelaide  de  Noailles  was  in  attendance  on  her  Ma- 
jesty that  night  and  remained  in  her  rooms;  we  others,  de- 
ceived by  the  apparent  tranquillity  of  the  people  and  worn  out 
by  the  agitating  incidents  of  the  day,  had  retired  to  rest.  We 
were  awakened  out  of  our  sleep  by  the  howling  of  the  mob 
which  was  already  pouring  through  the  corridors  of  the  pal- 
ace. Seizing  what  garments  we  could,  we  fled  to  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Queen.  The  tumult  grew  louder  and  rapidly  ap- 
proached the  wing  in  which  these  apartments  were  situated. 
The  body-guard  was  hewn  down,  but  I  managed  at  the  last 
moment  to  lock  the  door  against  the  furious  onslaught.  At 
the  same  moment  a  blow  from  an  axe  shivered  the  upper 
panel  of  the  door  into  splinters;  when,  mercifully,  the  Prin- 
cess de  Lamballe  wrenched  open  a  little  door  into  a  secret 
passage  leading  to  the  King's  apartments.  Into  this  passage 
we  dragged  the  Queen,  and  had  just  time  to  lock  the  door 
before  the  ravening  mob  burst  through  the  shattered  doorway 
into  the  room  we  had  left.  We  fled  to  the  King  and  found 
ourselves  in  safety,  as  the  National  Guard  were  standing  sen- 
try over  his  apartments. 

"  How  shall  I  describe  to  you  the  horrors  that  befell  in 
the  succeeding  days  and  the  terrible  journey  to  Paris, 
throughout  which  we  were  exposed  to  the  vilest  insults  and 
only  escaped  death  as  by  a  miracle!  These  scenes  belong  to 
history,  and  for  my  part  I  shall  remember  every  smallest  de- 
tail as  long  as  I  live.  Even  now  I  can  see  as  distinctly  as  then 
the  hideous  wolfish  faces  of  the  hags  who  danced  screeching 
round  the  carriage,  clambered  on  to  the  steps,  and  literally 
clawed  the  clothes  from  off  our  backs.  It  was  as  if  all  hell  had 
been  let  loose  around  us. 


60  CECILE'S  STORY. 

"  In  these  days,  at  last,  the  Queen  began  to  lose  faith  in 
her  people.  Hitherto  she  had  clung  to  the  belief  that,  though 
led  astray  for  a  time  by  false  teachers,  they  could  not  fail 
eventually  to  return  to  their  former  allegiance;  but  now  she 
began  to  tremble  for  the  safety  of  the  King  and  her  family. 

"  What  efforts  did  she  not  make,  in  those  days,  to  avert 
the  impending  evil!  She  endeavoured,  through  the  medium 
of  the  Comte  de  Lamarque,  to  come  to  terms  with  the  then  all- 
powerful  Mirabeau ;  she  did  her  utmost  to  win  over  the  high- 
souled  Lafayette,  that  passionate  advocate  of  liberty — but  all 
in  vain.  The  stone  was  set  rolling,  the  Monarchy  was  rush- 
ing to  its  doom. 

"  And  as,  they  say,  rats  leave  a  sinking  ship,  so  did  the 
nobility  in  this  case.  They  who  in  the  hour  of  danger  should 
have  formed  a  bulwark  round  the  throne  from  which  for  gen- 
erations they  had  derived  so  much  benefit,  now  basely  de- 
serted it  and  fled  for  safety  into  other  countries.  Where  were 
the  representatives  of  the  proudest  names — the  Princes  of  Ar- 
tois  and  their  sons,  the  Princes  of  Conde  and  of  Polignac, 
the  Broglio,  the  Breteuil,  and  the  rest  of  them?  All  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Rhine.  They  abandoned  the  royal  family 
to  its  fate  and  the  daily  outrages  of  a  maddened  and  blood- 
thirsty populace. 

"  Yet  those  days,  so  fraught  with  horror  to  my  royal  mas- 
ter and  mistress,  stand  out  in  my  memory  as  the  brightest 
of  my  life,  for  then  it  was  that  the  blessed  flower  of  love  first 
blossomed  in  my  heart.  Since  our  terrible  departure  from 
Versaiiisc  the  Court  had  taken  up  its  residence  in  the  Tuile- 
ries,  that  ancient  and  long  disused  palace  of  the  kings.  It 
chanced  one  day  that  I  crossed  the  great  entrance-hall  just 
as  the  guard  was  being  changed.  The  uniform,  that  of  the 


BETROTHAL  TO  HECTOR  DE  TRELLISSAK.  6 1 

blue  Dragoons  of  the  Queen,  the  regiment  which  had  replaced 
the  Garde  du  Corps,  was  unfamiliar  to  me,  but  not  so  the 
young  officer  who  led  them,  for,  as  I  looked  more  attentively, 
I  recognised  him  as  my  old  playfellow  Hector  de  Trellissak. 
No  words  can  say  how  overjoyed  I  was  to  see  him,  how 
thankful  to  know  that  in  these  days  of  trouble  and  anxiety 
I  now  had  one  friend  on  whom  to  lean.  I  had  been  feeling 
very  lonely  and  deserted  latterly;  for,  during  all  these  years, 
my  beloved  parents  had  always  been  near  me,  but  now  for 
several  months  my  father  had  been  stationed  with  his  regi- 
ment in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chalons,  whither  my  mother 
had  followed  him.  This  increased  the  heartiness  of  my  greet- 
ing to  my  childhood's  comrade.  We  held  each  other's  hands 
and  gave  free  expression  to  our  delight  at  the  unexpected 
meeting. 

"  How  shall  I  describe  the  happiness  of  the  days  that  fol- 
lowed ?  Hector  managed  that  we  should  see  each  other  daily, 
his  service  at  the  Tuileries  affording  him  a  ready  excuse,  and 
love  soon  awoke  in  our  hearts.  Hector  declared  his  passion, 
and  my  happiness  was  complete. 

"  But  oh,  my  Hector,  how  were  these  sweet  hopes  ful- 
filled !  Once  only,  after  that,  did  I  see  him,  and  at  that  meet- 
ing he  went  to  his  death  for  me!  " 

At  these  words  Cecile  broke  into  such  a  passion  of  tears 
that  I  was  quite  alarmed  and,  clasping  her  to  me,  begged  her 
to  postpone  her  story  till  another  day. 

What  stormy  experiences  my  sweet  friend  has  had  in  her 
short  life  compared  to  me,  whose  youth  passed  so  calmly  and 
uneventfully!  Thus  differently  does  God  order  the  lives  of 
His  children! 


CHAPTER  VI. 
CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S   STORY. 

November  5,  1795. 

MORE  than  a  week  passed  before  Cecile  could  resume  her 
story,  several  things  happening  to  prevent  her.  First  of  all, 
we  had  a  three  days'  visit  from  Uncle  Briest.  The  painters  are 
in  his  house  and  so,  fastidious  old  bachelor  that  he  is,  he 
packed  up  and  came  over  to  us,  bringing  his  old  servant  Chris- 
tian with  him. 

His  company  was,  if  anything,  more  welcome  and  pleasant 
than  usual,  particularly  on  Cecile's  account.  She  was  very 
low-spirited  again  after  telling  me  her  story,  but  Briest  takes 
such  a  delightful  tone  with  her — now  of  playful  banter,  now  of 
fatherly  affection — that  she  cannot  resist  his  influence.  I  do 
not  doubt  now  that,  with  continued  judicious  treatment,  Cecile 
will  in  time  regain  her  old  bright  spirits.  Nor  do  I  give  up 
hope  that  I  may  yet  see  her  heart  incline  to  our  good  Vollrath. 

Then  we  had  dear  Aunt  Kroecher  here,  too,  and  to  see  her 
and  Uncle  Briest  together  is  in  itself  the  greatest  treat.  The 
story  goes  that  they  were  deeply  attached  to  each  other  in  their 
youth;  indeed,  Uncle  Briest  always  vows  she  was  his  first  love. 
Maybe,  but  one  thing  at  any  rate  is  certain:  she  is  not  his 
last — the  two  dear  old  creatures  are  in  a  perpetual  state  of  active 
warfare.  Besides  these  two  we  had  a  visit  from  my  dear  Frau 

62 


THE  QUEEN  SEEKS  HELP  ABROAD.  63 

von  Bismarck,  who  invited  Cecile  to  come  and  stay  with  her 
presently. 

After  they  had  all  gone  the  household  settled  down  once 
more  to  its  usual  quiet  routine,  and  last  evening  Cecile  sug- 
gested that  she  should  take  up  the  thread  of  her  story  again. 
My  Werner  was  permitted  to  join  us  this  time,  and  I  found 
that  his  presence  had  a  most  beneficial  effect  upon  the  dear 
girl;  she  was  far  calmer  and  more  collected  than  before,  al- 
though the  scenes  she  described  must  of  necessity  have  re- 
called the  most  agitating  memories. 

"  I  told  you,"  she  accordingly  resumed,  "  what  a  grievous 
blow  was  dealt  to  the  royal  family  by  the  desertion  of  almost 
all  the  higher  nobility.  But  that  was  not  all,  for  these  same 
nobles  did  them  great  harm  even  at  a  distance  by  levying 
troops  in  Austria  for  an  invasion  of  France.  The  report  being 
spread  from  Paris  that  the  Queen  was  the  originator  of  these 
hostile  machinations,  the  nation  rose  against  her  as  one  man. 
Thus  some  months  passed,  and  presently  the  royal  family 
made  their  abortive  attempt  to  escape  from  France.  The 
King,  alas,  was  recognised  at  St.  Menehould  and  the  whole 
party  brought  back  to  Paris.  We  ladies  were  not  of  the  party, 
their  Majesties  having  taken  no  suite  with  them  in  order  to 
avoid  remark. 

"  Seeing  clearly  at  last  that  all  her  efforts  to  bring  about 
a  change  in  popular  opinion  were  fruitless,  the  Queen  now 
turned  to  the  Princes  of  foreign  states — her  brothers  and 
cousins — for  help.  The  Princess  de  Lamballe  was  her  first 
emissary,  and  was  sent  to  England  to  persuade  King  George 
to  make  an  invasion  by  sea.  Marie  Antoinette  divulged  to  the 
Princess,  at  the  same  time,  her  determination  to  escape  by 


6*4  CONTINUATION   OF  CECILE'S   STORY. 

some  means  or  other  from  the  horrors  of  Paris.  She  said  she 
hoped  soon  to  meet  us  again  in  England. 

"  And  so,  after  a  touchingly  affectionate  farewell  from  the 
Queen,  we  set  out  on  September  12,  1791.  It  was  doubly  hard 
for  me  to  leave  my  Hector  and  my  dear  parents  behind  in  all 
that  trouble  and  anxiety.  A  dark  foreboding  lay  upon  my 
heart. — My  beloved  parents  I  never  saw  again,  and  my  lover? 
Oh,  only  for  one  short  moment  of  bliss  . . . 

"  We  arrived  safely  in  London  after  a  stormy  passage,  but 
the  Princess  soon  perceived  that  her  mission  was  a  hopeless 
one.  The  Queen  and  her  daughters  certainly  received  us  most 
graciously  and  promised  everything  in  their  power,  but  their 
influence  with  the  government  was  extremely  slight. 

"  My  poor  Princess  returned  to  me  one  day  bathed  in  tears, 
declaring  with  sobs  that  she  had  now  given  up  all  hope.  She 
had  had  an  audience  with  the  Lord  Chancellor  Pitt, — who 
from  the  first  had  shown  himself  unwilling  to  render  any 
assistance  to  France, — and  he  had  not  scrupled  to  tell  her  in 
cavalier  manner  that  the  English  Government  had  no  inclina- 
tion to  act  as  catspaw  for  France;  our  King  must  extricate 
himself  as  best  he  could  from  these  difficulties  for  which,  after 
all,  he  had  only  himself  to  blame. 

"  Nevertheless,  though  our  efforts  were  in  vain  and  we 
were  sadly  obliged  to  confess  that  ideal  motives  were  power- 
less to  touch  this  nation  of  shopkeepers,  Queen  Marie  Antoi- 
nette insisted  upon  our  remaining  in  England. 

"  Many  letters,  of  course,  passed  between  me  and  my  lover 
during  those  weeks.  In  each  one  he  wrote  how  thankful  he 
was  to  have  me  safe  out  of  the  country.  One  of  his  first  letters, 
however,  contained  the  disagreeable  news  that  he  was  without 
an  appointment,  his  regiment  under  Prince  Lambesc  having 


THE  QUEEN  TO  THE  PRINCESS  LAMBALLE.  6$ 

basely  deserted  to  the  people  during  a  street  riot.  Both  the 
commander  and  the  officers  had  barely  escaped  with  their  lives. 
He  wrote  besides  of  his  great  longing  to  see  me  again,  then  of 
the  daily  recurring  riots  in  the  streets  of  Paris,  and  that  Heaven 
alone  knew  how  it  was  going  to  end. 

"  At  last,  being  quite  hopeless  of  achieving  anything  in 
England,  the  Princess  wrote  in  July  1792,  begging  that  she 
might  return  to  the  Queen  and  share  her  trials  with  her.  In 
answer  she  received  the  following  letter  which  I  have  pre- 
served with  the  rest: 

"  PARIS,  10  aout  1792. 

"  A  la  Princess  Lamballe! 

"  Je  suis  heureuse,  ma  chere  Lamballe,  de  vous  savoir  en 
surete  dans  1'etat  affreux  de  nos  affaires.  Ne  retourncz  pas. 
Je  sais  bien  que  votre  cceur  est  fidele,  mais  je  ne  veux  pas  que 
vous  reveniez.  J'apporte  du  malheur  a  vous  tous.  II  est  en 
effet  necessaire  pour  mon  repos,  que  mes  amis  ne  se  com- 
promettent,  ce  serait  done  les  miner  sans  nous  etre  utile. 
N'ajoutez  pas  encore  a  mes  inquietudes  personelles  1'in- 
quietude  pour  ceux  que  j'aime.  Les  freres  du  roi  sont  mal- 
heureusement  entoures  de  personnes  ambitieuses  et  etourdies, 
qui  ne  pourront  que  nous  miner  apres  etre  ruinees  elles- 
memes,  car  ils  ne  veulent  entendre  ceux  qui  possedent  notre 
confiance  et  qu'est  le  plus  triste  en  ce  moment,  ce  sont  les 
emigrants  armes.  Je  vous  avoue,  que  malgre  tout  mon  cou- 
rage, je  serais  heureuse  de  succomber  si  je  n'avais  pas  mes 
pauvres  enfants  et  mon  epoux,  qui  conserve  dans  toutes  ces 
affaires  une  serenite  inouie.  Autour  de  nous  il  n'y  a  rien  que 
des  tromperies,  perfidies  et  mensonges ;  je  vois  approcher  une 
dissolution  complete  de  la  France.  Je  pleurs  ma  famille  et 


65  CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S  STORY. 

non  pas  moi-meme.  La  ville.  est  perpetuellement  pleine  de 
vagabonds  et  pourtant  le  bon  peuple  nous  rend  justice,  mais 
il  se  tait,  abaisse  le  tete  et  n'a  aucun  moyen  de  se  proteger. 
Les  scelerats  sont  devenus  forts  par  cette  faiblesse.  Oh, 
qu'on  s'appergut  combien  nous  aimons  le  peuple,  on  rougirait 
des  souffrances  que  nous  avons  eprouvees;  mais  il  ne  sera 
pas  possible  de  tirer  le  moindre  avantage  de  ces  bons  senti- 
ments. El  comme  vous  ecrivez  il  n'y  a  par  la  mon  plus  du 
secours  pour  nous.  Que  le  bon  dieu  nous  sois  propice ! 

"  Done,  vous  resterez  Id.  Adieu,  bon  coeur,  et  aimez-moi 
comme  je  vous  aime. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

[Translation.] 

"  PARIS,  August  10,  1792. 

"  To  the  Princess  de  Lamballe: 

"  I  am  happy,  my  dear  Lamballe,  in  view  of  the  terrible 
state  of  affairs  here,  to  know  that  you  are  in  safety.  Do  not 
return.  Well  I  know  your  true  and  faithful  heart,  but  I  do 
not  zvish  that  you  should  return.  I  bring  misfortune  upon  you 
all.  It  is  indeed  essential  to  my  peace  of  mind  that  our 
friends  should  not  compromise  themselves,  thereby  bringing 
about  their  own  ruin  and  benefiting  us  not  at  all.  Do  not 
add  to  my  personal  griefs  solicitude  for  the  fate  of  those  I 
love.  The  brothers  of  the  King  unfortunately  are  surrounded 
by  ambitious  and  foolish  persons  who  will  inevitably  ruin  us 
after  having  compassed  their  own  destruction;  they  will  not 
listen  to  those  who  possess  our  confidence,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing sadder  to  my  mind  at  the  present  moment  than  these 
armed  emigres.  I  declare  to  you  that,  despite  all  my  courage, 
I  should  rejoice  to  succumb  were  it  not  for  my  poor  children 
and  my  husband,  who,  through  all  these  trials,  preserves  a 


CECILE  IN  ENGLAND.  67 

most  amazing  serenity.  Nothing  but  treachery,  knavishness, 
and  lying  prevails  on  every  hand,  and  I  see  the  complete  dis- 
solution of  France  in  the  near  future.  My  grief  is  for  my 
family,  not  for  myself.  The  city  is  perpetually  overrun  by 
rogues  and  vagabonds,  and  though  our  good  citizens  are  not 
unjust  to  us  in  their  hearts,  they  dare  not  give  voice  to  their 
loyalty,  being  helpless  even  to  defend  themselves.  The 
wicked  have  grown  strong  through  that  weakness.  Oh,  if 
the  people  could  but  realise  how  we  love  them,  they  would 
blush  to  think  of  the  sufferings  we  have  endured.  But  all  our 
good  sentiments  avail  us  nothing,  and  you  write  that  there 
is  no  hope  of  succour  from  that  quarter  either! — God  help 
us! 

"  Once  more,  then,  remain  where  you  are.  Farewell,  dear 
heart,  and  love  me  as  I  love  you. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

I  was  deeply  touched  by  this  letter  and  wrote  it  down, 
the  better  to  remember  it.  Surely  it  is  enough  to  bring  tears 
to  the  eyes  to  read  how,  in  the  midst  of  her  own  severe  trials, 
the  royal  sufferer  takes  such  thought  for  the  welfare  of  be- 
loved friends  then  far  away  from  her ! 

After  we  had  discoursed  a  little  on  this  subject,  Cecile  re- 
sumed her  story. 

"  As  it  was  the  Queen's  wish,  therefore,  we  remained  in 

England  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Lady  S ,  but  all 

our  thoughts  were  in  Paris  with  our  dear  ones  whom  we 
knew  to  be  in  danger.  The  Princess  was  indefatigable  in  her 
endeavours  to  further  the  cause  of  the  Royal  family,  but  the 
Queen  of  England  merely  put  her  off  with  empty  promises 
and  nothing  was  done. 


68  CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S  STORY. 

"  Thus  a  year  passed  and  the  next  one  brought  us  fresh 
alarms.  At  the  beginning  of  August  came  the  terrible  news 
of  the  storming  of  the  Tuileries  and  that  the  Royal  family  had 
fled  for  protection  to  the  Constituants.  After  that  the  dread- 
ful tidings  came  thick  and  fast.  A  fortnight  later  my  nurse 
Gervais  sent  me  the  woeful  news  of  the  guillotining  of  my 
beloved  father,  who  had  suffered  death  with  ten  of  his  com- 
panions in  arms.  Next  she  wrote  to  inform  me  of  the  serious 
illness  of  my  dear  mother.  My  poor  heart  was  rent  with 
agony.  I  had  left  my  father  in  the  full  vigour  of  his  manly 
health  and  strength,  and  here  he  had  been  butchered  by  these 
assassins — he,  so  noble  a  man,  so  ardent  a  patriot,  who  had 
so  often  shed  his  blood  for  his  country !  And  now  my  mother 
was  sick  unto  death  and  I  far  away  in  a  foreign  land,  unable 
to  go  to  her,  to  nurse  and  comfort  her ! — Oh,  it  nearly  drove 
me  mad. 

"  On  the  i8th  of  August  the  Princess  received  the  fol- 
lowing brief  lines  from  our  royal  mistress : 

"  PARIS,  14  aout  17—. 

"  Chere  Lamballe!     Venez  a  moi  tout  a  1'heure.     Je  me 
trouve  dans  les  plus  grand  danger. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

[Translation.'] 

"  Dear  Lamballe:  Come  to  me  at  once.  I  am  in  the  great- 
est danger. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

"  You  will  observe,  Annaliebe,"  said  Cecile  as  she  handed 
me  the  document,  "that  the  few  words  are  written  in  a 


RETURN  TO  PARIS.  69 

trembling  hand,  quite  unlike  the  usual  firm  writing  of  the 
Queen.  But  how  should  we  have  stayed  to  notice  that  at  such 
a  time?  The  beloved  name  of  the  Queen  stood  beneath  it, 
she  was  in  danger — she  called,  what  more  was  necessary? 

"  We  started  that  same  day  for  Cherbourg  with  our  three 
serving-women  and  two  men.  On  arriving  there  it  suddenly 
occurred  to  me — I  do  not  know  to  this  day  what  put  it  in  my 
head — that  it  might  be  dangerous  to  take  one  of  my  porte- 
manteaux  containing  my  jewels,  my  private  documents,  in  fact 
all  I  possessed  of  value,  with  me  to  Paris.  I  determined  there- 
fore to  entrust  it  to  my  old  nurse,  and  one  of  the  Princess's 
servants,  faithful  old  Hippolite,  was  despatched  by  a  different 
route  to  Paris  with  injunctions  to  place  this  piece  of  baggage 
in  the  hands  of  my  good  Gervais  in  the  Rue  de  Ricot. 

"  These  orders  were  duly  carried  out,  and  thus  am  I  now  in 
possession  of  my  modest  fortune,  while  so  many  of  my  fellow 
exiles  have  found  themselves  reduced  to  poverty  and  want. 

"  We  reached  Paris  on  the  25th  of  August,  and  I  cannot 
convey  to  you  the  painful  impression  the  once  gay  and  laugh- 
ing city  made  upon  me  after  this  absence.  A  drunken,  half- 
demented  rabble  poured,  howling  and  singing  ribald  songs, 
through  the  streets;  the  guillotine  in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde 
daily  claimed  hundreds  of  victims,  and  a  sickening  reek  of 
blood  hung  over  the  whole  city.  The  Royal  family  were  pris- 
oners in  the  Temple. 

"  I  hastened  to  my  mother's  lodging  in  the  Rue  du  Bac, 
to  find  my  dear  one  in  her  coffin.  My  nurse  met  me  in  floods 
of  tears  with  the  harrowing  intelligence  that  she  had  suc- 
cumbed three  days  ago  to  heart  disease.  I  watched  the  night 
through  in  bitter  grief  and  weeping  beside  her  body. 

"  Next  morning  the  Princess  came  and  carried  me  away. 


70  CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S  STORY. 

She  had  passed  a  night  of  horror  and  despair  with  the  Duchess 
de  Liancourt  and  was  now  half  distraught  with  terror,  having 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  escaped  from  a  gang  of  infuriated 
ruffians  who  pursued  her  through  several  streets.  She  im- 
plored me  to  join  her  in  seeking  refuge  with  the  Queen  in  the 
Temple;  prison  walls  offered  better  security  than  this  mad 
whirlpool  of  a  city,  where  bands  of  ravening  monsters  hunted 
down  every  decently  dressed  person  they  caught  sight  of.  I 
was  in  a  no  less  desperate  plight  than  she,  and  I  believe  I 
should  have  gone  quite  mad  had  I  stayed  any  longer  in  my 
mother's  house.  Troop  after  troop  of  these  horrible  people 
passed  through  the  street,  breaking  into  the  houses  and 
searching  the  rooms  for  fresh  victims  to  their  unbridled  pas- 
sions. 

"  So  we  fled  to  the  Temple  and  entreated  the  Commandant 
Floquet,  a  man  with  a  debauched  and  brutal  face,  to  allow  us 
to  share  the  captivity  of  the  Queen.  On  hearing  our  names, 
he  laughed  cynically :  '  Ah,  the  citoycnnes  come  of  their  own 
accord;  so  much  the  better,  that  saves  us  the  trouble,'  and  he 
conducted  us  to  the  Queen.  Marie  Antoinette  received  us 
with  a  cry  of  horrified  amazement.  *  You,  Lamballe!  How 
do  you  come  here?  Did  I  not  forbid  you  to  leave  England, 
and  yet  you  have  returned  ?  Must  I  drag  you  with  me  in  my 
downfall,  my  poor  friend ! ' 

"  '  But  we  are  here  at  your  Majesty's  own  urgent  request,' 
I  murmured. 

'  What! '  she  cried, '  my  own  request?    But  I  adjured  you 
both  to  remain  in  England ! ' 

'  Then,  Philippe  of  Orleans,  this  is  your  handiwork! '  I  said 
to  myself. 

"We  were  permitted  to  remain  with  our  Royal  mistress 


SAD  END  OF  THE  PRINCESS  DE  LAMBALLE.  ]i 

till  the  evening,  and  she  told  us  the  story  of  her  martyrdom 
during  the  months  we  had  been  absent.  Oh,  what  nameless 
suffering  had  been  hers!  Her  face  indeed  bore  witness  to  it. 
Where  was  all  her  dazzling  beauty  fled?  Grief  and  loss  of 
freedom  had  destroyed  it.  Deep  lines  furrowed  the  once  fair 
cheeks,  sunken  and  dim  were  the  lustrous  eyes,  blanched  the 
golden  hair;  her  hands  had  an  incessant  tremor  and  the  sweet 
proud  lips  twitched  convulsively. 

"  When  the  evening  came,  the  inhuman  wretches,  grudg- 
ing their  royal  victim  even  the  poor  consolation  of  the  pres- 
ence of  a  friend,  came  and  dragged  us  away,  declaring  that 
the  Temple  was  already  overcrowded  and  we  must  go  to  the 
prison  of  La  Force. 

"  Fiends  that  they  were,  they  literally  tore  my  sobbing 
Princess  from  the  arms  of  the  Queen  so  roughly  that  her 
Majesty  nearly  fell.  One  more  kiss,  one  last  fond  look,  and 
the  two  friends  parted  never  to  meet  again  in  this  life. 

"  We  were  then  dragged  off  to  La  Force,  and  cast  into  a 
dark  and  noisome  cell  with  a  crowd  of  other  unfortunates.  For 
three  days  only  was  I  allowed  to  remain  in  the  company  of 
my  beloved,  my  angelic  Princess,  then  we  were  separated. 
The  number  of  victims  increased  so  rapidly  that  this  prison, 
too,  became  full  to  o'erflowing. 

"  On  the  fourth  day  after  our  arrival,  the  gaoler  came  with 
a  long  list  of  names — mine  among  the  number — and  we 
learned  that  thirty  of  us  were  to  be  transferred  to  another  prison 
— the  majority  to  the  Abbaye  St.  Germain,  but  I  to  the  Tem- 
ple, where  doubtless  the  guillotine  had  by  this  time  made  a 
considerable  gap. 

"  Let  me  draw  a  veil  over  my  parting  from  the  friend  who 
for  years  had  been  the  light  of  my  life.  Yet  I  confidently  hoped 


72  CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S  STORY. 

for  a  reunion  with  her,  and  this  thought  upheld  me  in  my  sor- 
row. For  how  could  I  imagine  that  the  world  contained 
creatures  so  base  as  to  compass  the  death  of  this  saintly  be- 
ing? 

"Alas,  I  was  indeed  to  see  that  beloved  face  once  more, 
but  under  what  ghastly  circumstances! 

"  It  was  the  i8th  of  September.  After  long  and  earnest 
entreaty,  I  prevailed  upon  my  gaoler  to  let  me  have  speech  of 
the  Queen,  to  whom  I  had  brought  messages  of  affectionate 
greeting  from  the  Princess.  I  was  alone  with  the  Royal  family 
in  a  room  on  the  ground-floor,  and  I  was  giving  the  King  an 
account  of  our  fruitless  mission  in  London.  Suddenly  from 
the  street  came  the  yells  and  shouts  of  the  mob,  and  the  words  : 
'  Citoyenne  Capet,  Citoyenne  Capet,  regarded  done!  Come  to 
the  window! '  were  distinct  above  the  rest. 

"  With  her  wonted  dignity,  the  Queen  approached  the  win- 
dow. The  next  moment  she  thrust  out  her  clenched  hands 
convulsively,  her  gaze  grew  fixed  in  horror,  and  with  a 
piercing  shriek  she  fell  to  the  ground  in  a  deep  swoon.  The 
King  and  I  sprang  to  her  assistance,  and  then  I  too  looked  out 
of  the  window.  There  I  beheld  a  beloved  head,  the  sweet  and 
bloodless  face  framed  in  long  fair  curls;  saw  two  wide-open 
glassy  blue  eyes,  which  even  grim  Death  had  been  powerless  to 
rob  of  their  melting  expression — the  head  of  my  idolised  friend 
stuck  upon  a  pike  and  borne  aloft  in  the  midst  of  a  howling 
mob  of  devils ! 

"At  this  my  senses,  too,  forsook  me  and  with  a  wail  of 
horror  I  sank  lifeless  to  the  ground. 

"  It  was  not  till  many  hours  later  that  I  regained  conscious- 
ness in  the  dungeon  where  I  was  confined  with  forty  other 


DETAILS  OF   THE  MURDER  OF  THE  PRINCESS.  73 

prisoners,  and  found  myself  in  the  arms  of  Clotilde  de 
Mortemar. 

"  From  her  I  learned  the  details  of  the  infamous  crime 
which  had  been  perpetrated  against  my  unfortunate  Princess. 

"  The  dear  saint  had  been  dragged  before  a  tribunal  and 
accused  of  conspiring  with  foreign  Powers  against  the  nation. 
On  her  denying  this,  they  promised  her  her  liberty  if  she  would 
openly  express  her  detestation  of  the  Monarchy.  This  she  of 
course  indignantly  refused  to  do,  whereupon  the  self-styled 
Court  of  Justice  resolved  to  decide  the  question  of  her  guilt 
by  vote.  The  result  was  an  even  number  for  and  against,  and 
being  unable  to  prove  the  least  misdemeanour  against  her,  they 
pronounced  her  acquittal,  showing  thereby  that  there  were 
still  a  few  right-minded  men  on  the  tribunal.  Indeed,  this  ver- 
dict, which  even  called  forth  a  cry  of  Bravo!  here  and  there 
among  the  on-lookers,  is  one  of  the  few  bright  spots  in  the 
Reign  of  Terror. 

"  The  Princess  was  then  led  away  to  be  released,  but  no 
sooner  did  she  set  foot  outside  the  hall  in  which  the  trial  took 
place  than  she  was  surrounded  by  a  band  of  masked  and  armed 
men  who  drove  off  the  guard  of  gendarmes  and  then  de- 
spatched her  with  their  sabres.  After  mutilating  the  fair 
corpse  in  the  most  frightful  manner,  the  ruffians  fixed  her  head 
and  her  faithful  heart  upon  pikes  and  paraded  these  ghastly 
trophies,  first  before  the  house  of  the  Due  de  Penthievre,  her 
father-in-law,  and  then  before  the  windows  of  the  Temple. 

"  Thus  did  my  idol,  my  adored  mistress,  end  her  saintly 
life  under  the  daggers  of  a  gang  of  hired  cut-throats.  I  trust 
that  the  wretch  whose  paid  instruments  they  were  is  now  re- 
ceiving the  just  reward  of  his  infamous  crimes  before  the  Judg- 
ment Seat  of  God ! 


74  CONTINUATION  OF  CECILE'S  STORY. 

"  But  enough,  dear  friends,  for  to-day.  These  hideous 
scenes  come  back  to  me  so  vividly  when  I  describe  them  that 
my  agitation  is  almost  too  much  for  me.  I  must  stop  for  a 
while." 


CHAPTER  VII. 
CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

November  6,  1794. 

ON  the  following  evening  Cecile  declared  herself  ready  to 
resume  her  story. 

"After  hearing  from  Clotilde  Mortemar  the  account  of 
my  beloved  friend's  appalling  death,  I  became  grievously  ill. 
Black  night  closed  in  upon  my  shattered  mind,  and  for  long, 
long  weeks  brain-fever  kept  me  unconscious  of  my  surround- 
ings. 

"  Not  till  the  June  of  the  next  year,  when  my  King's  head 
had  long  since  fallen  under  the  knife  of  the  guillotine,  did  I 
awake  to  full  consciousness  and  was  able  to  grasp  what  was 
going  on  about  me. 

"  It  is  indeed  a  wonder  that  I  did  not  succumb  to  my  ill- 
ness, lying  as  I  did  all  the  time  in  a  corner  of  the  great  stone 
dungeon;  and  I  owe  my  life  entirely  to  the  devoted  care  of  my 
friend  Clotilde  Mortemar.  But  how  gladly  would  I  have  died 
then! 

"The  only  thing  I  remember  during  those  days  was  the 
news  of  the  Queen's  removal  to  the  Conciergerie.  The  Mar- 
quise de  Fontanges  had  witnessed  the  parting  between  Marie 
Antoinette  and  her  ladies,  and  was  never  tired  of  describing 
the  heartrending  scene  as  they  lay  upon  their  knees  around 

75 


76  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

their  Royal  mistress.  The  Queen  kissed  each  one  of  them  in 
turn  and  whispered :  '  Farewell,  do  not  forget  me/  Then 
bowing  her  head  she  passed  from  their  sight  forever. 

"  Meanwhile  I,  with  many  another  companion  in  misery, 
was  doomed  to  pass  long  months  of  captivity  in  the  horrible 
vaulted  dungeon,  that  had  been  a  cellar  of  the  Temple,  in  per- 
petual semi-darkness,  only  sparely  illuminated  by  a  few  evil- 
smelling  oil  lamps. 

"  There  must,  at  that  time,  have  been  quite  fifty  persons 
of  all  ranks  and  ages — even  a  few  littli  children — confined  in 
this  damp  and  mouldy  cellar;  artists,  and  savants,  nobles, 
ladies  of  every  rank  and  standing,  priests  and  teachers  of  the 
people — every  one,  in  fact,  down  to  the  very  servants,  in  any 
way  connected  with  the  Court  or  the  aristocracy,  whether  of 
birth  or  of  culture. 

"  Here  we  were  privileged  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  such  intel- 
lectual giants  as  Condorcet,  Vique  d'Azyr,  the  poets  Florian 
and  Boucher,  and  to  listen  to  such  discourses  as  made  us  for- 
get that  murder  and  desolation  surrounded  us  on  every  side. 

"  There,  too,  in  that  grim  twilight,  the  painter  Francois 
Boucher  sketched  a  portrait  of  the  poet  Chenier,  who  after- 
wards sent  it  to  his  fondly  loved  wife  with  the  following 
charming  lines : 

" '  Objets  charmants  et  doux,  ne  vous  etonnez  pas, 
Si  quelqu'air  de  tristesse  obscurcit  mon  visage. 
Lorsqu'un  crayon  savant  dessinait  cet  image, 
J'attendais  1'echafaud  et  je  pensais  a  vous.' 

"  How  many  instances  of  generosity  and  noble  self-sacri- 
fice did  I  not  witness  during1  those  days!  Married  couples, 
parents,  children  had  no  thought  but  to  console  and  support 


CECILE'S  IMPRISONMENT.  77 

one  another;  and  now  and  then  it  would  happen  that  at  the 
call  of  the  executioner  a  son  would  answer  for  a  father,  a 
friend  for  a  friend,  and  go  to  the  scaffold  in  his  stead.  But 
those  that  remained  lived  on  unconcernedly.  Our  under- 
ground prison  seemed  almost  like  a  tranquil  island  round 
which  the  breakers  foamed  and  raged.  The  only  thing  that 
came  to  disturb  our  even  calm  was  the  executioner's  hand  that 
would  snatch  away  one  or  other  out  of  the  friendly  circle  to 
his  death. 

"  It  was  like  another  world  down  here.  Up  above,  all  the 
qualities  that  go  to  adorn  life — grace  and  courtesy,  reverence 
and  polished  manners — were  rigorously  tabooed;  they  had 
fled  for  refuge  to  these  dungeons,  these  ante-chambers  to  the 
Halls  of  Death.  Here  there  were  no  "  citoyens "  or 
"  citoyennes,"  every  one  received  his  proper  title  ;  it  was 
Monsieur  le  Marquis  or  le  Vicomte,  Monsieur  le  Professeur 
or  le  Conseiller,  just  as  if  we  had  been  at  St.  Cloud,  or  in  the 
reception-rooms  of  the  Palace  of  Versailles. 

"  Good  tone  demanded  that  all  sign  of  dread  or  anxiety 
should  be  repressed,  and  the  presence  of  ladies  lent  a  certain 
air  of  gaiety  to  the  scene. 

"  How  well  I  remember  the  aged  Marquise  d'Amblas,  a 
venerable  lady  of  nearly  eighty  with  snow-white  hair  piled 
above  her  forehead,  remarking  one  day :  "  Ah,  mesdames,  and 
you,  messieurs,  we  are  all  eighty  years  of  age  now!  "  And  she 
laughed  a  high  shrill  laugh  that  echoed  eerily  from  the 
vaulted  roof  like  a  voice  from  the  tombs. 

"  She  had  hardly  spoken  when  the  great  door  creaked  on 
its  hinges  and  a  half-tipsy  gaoler  stumbled  in.  Beckoning 
with  a  grimy  hand,  he  called  in  husky  tones :  '  Here,  Citoy- 
enne  Amblas,  come  along — you're  wanted!' 


?8  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

: '  Indeed  ? '  replied  the  Marquise,  '  I  am  quite  ready/  She 
rose  from  the  stone  bench  where  she  had  been  sitting,  re- 
arranged the  black  lace  scarf  upon  her  white  hair,  smoothed 
out  the  folds  of  her  long  black  gown,  and  with  a  deep  court 
curtsey  to  us,  said :  '  Mesdames,  I  have  the  honour  to  bid 
you  farewell — a  revoir.  Monsieur  le  Marquis  de  Varennes, 
your  arm! '  With  unfaltering  step  and  the  proud  carriage  of 
a  queen  the  old  lady  swept  to  the  door  which  the  gaoler  held 
open  for  her.  One  more  bow  to  us  and  she  was  gone — gone 
to  her  death! 

"  A  momentary  silence  fell  upon  us  after  her  departure, 
and  then  the  conversation  was  resumed  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened— a  characteristic  example  of  the  French  capacity  for 
making  the  best  of  a  matter,  however  bad. 

"  Thus,  one  day,  there  sat  in  a  corner  under  a  smoking 
lamp  a  party  consisting  of  Madame  de  Branchue,  de  Chateau- 
neuf,  and  two  gentlemen:  the  Abbe  de  Mercier,  if  I  remem- 
ber rightly,  and  the  Comte  de  B.  They  were  playing  '  Tric- 
Trac '  with  a  pack  of  greasy  cards,  and  the  Abbe  was  in  the 
act  of  dealing  when  his  name  was  called.  He  rose  with  a 
smile,  and  turing  to  the  Comte,  who  was  standing  behind 
him,  he  said :  '  Will  you  have  the  kindness,  Monsieur  le 
Comte,  to  take  my  cards  in  the  mean  time? ' 

"  He  bowed  and  left.  This  in  the  mean  time  meant  for  him 
eternity — he  was  guillotined  within  the  hour.  I  could  multi- 
ply such  instances  of  dignified  composure  and  contempt  of 
death  by  the  dozen. 

"  And  so  the  time  wore  on  till  the  22d  of  July.  Towards 
midday  some  of  us  were  sitting  together,  listening  to  the  old 
Duchess  de  Bazancourt  as  she  discoursed  contemptuously  of 
the  miserable  Dubarry  and  how  she  had  come  over  from  Eng- 


CONDEMNED  TO   DEATH.  79 

land  in  the  hope  of  rescuing  her  fortune  and,  on  being  ar- 
rested, had  behaved  in  the  most  despicable  manner.  She  had 
no  idea  how  to  die  with  propriety,  for,  on  the  way  to  the 
guillotine,  she  had  shrieked  and  bewailed  herself  so  unre- 
strainedly that  she  very  nearly  persuaded  the  mob  to  effect 
her  release.  The  Duchess  was  indignant  and  a  lively  con- 
versation ensued,  in  which  each  of  us  brought  forward  some 
instance  of  heroism  displayed  by  various  of  our  friends. 

"  Suddenly  the  door  opened  and  our  gaoler  entered  with 
a  long  list  in  his  hand  and  proceeded  to  call  the  names  of  to- 
day's batch  of  victims.  I  had  in  course  of  time  grown  so 
accustomed  to  these  daily  roll-calls  that  I  had  ceased  to  re- 
gard them  as  anything  unusual;  indeed,  I  had  begun  to  feel 
that  they  had  forgotten  me  altogether,  and  my  poor  heart 
was  numbed  by  the  oft-recurring  pangs  of  parting. 

"  This  day's  list  was  an  exceptionally  long  one,  and  we 
all  listened  in  breathless  silence,  save  that  from  one  corner 
came  the  usual  intermittent  ejaculations,  '  Spades  are 
trumps/  or  the  like,  or  a  gentle  ripple  of  laughter  after  a 
bon-mot  from  one  or  other  of  the  card-players.  In  between 
came  the  low  response  of  '  Here ! '  from  those  whose  names 
were  called;  among  them,  on  that  occasion,  the  Dukes  de 
Brissac  and  d'Abacourt,  Messieurs  de  Roucher,  de  Lafitte,  and 
others,  then  the  ladies  Desiree  de  Lavallade,  Eugenie 
d'Absak,  Laure  d'Hauteville,  and  many,  many  more — then, 
at  the  very  end,  yet  one  more — my  own,  Cecile  de  Courtot ! 

"  At  the  sound  an  icy  hand  seemed  to  grip  my  heart  and 
shuddering  despair  fell  upon  me.  I  was  but  twenty-nine: 
was  this  the  end — must  I  really  die  so  soon?  At  the  bottom 
of  my  heart  there  had  always  lain  a  secret  belief  that  by  some 
unforeseen  chance  I  should  yet  go  free,  should  escape  this 


80  CECII.E  CONTirsTIES  HER  STORY. 

hideous  death.  And  now,  after  all,  my  turn  had  come  like 
all  the  rest! 

"  Then  came  the  thought  of  the  dear  ones  who  had  gone 
before  me — my  beloved  parents,  my  cherished  Princess — and 
the  weight  of  my  terror  seemed  lightened,  till  suddenly  the 
remembrance  of  Hector  crossed  my  mind.  Oh,  God!  it 
meant  that  I  must  leave  him,  my  lover,  whom,  though  I  had 
heard  no  word  of  him  during  all  these  weary  months,  I  still 
counted  among  the  living;  for  otherwise  his  departing  spirit, 
I  was  convinced,  would  have  given  me  some  sign.  He  lived 
and  I  must  die. 

"  The  torture  of  that  thought  was  more  than  I  could  bear ; 
with  a  bitter  cry  of  '  Hector ! '  I  fell  senseless  to  the  ground. 

"  But  all  too  soon  my  consciousness  returned  under  the 
kindly  ministrations  of  my  faithful  companion  in  suffering, 
Clothilde  de  Mortemar,  and  I  realised  the  full  horror  of  my 
situation:  in  full  possession  of  health  and  faculties  I  must  go 
down  into  death.  Oh,  can  anything  in  this  world  be  more 
appalling  than  to  be  forced  to  say  to  oneself — One  short  hour 
hence  and  my  head  will  be  severed  from  my  body!  This  head 
with  its  active  brain  which  can  still  think  and  cherish  its  small 
hopes  and  desires  will  then  lie  in  the  blood-stained  basket 
where  so  many  have  fallen  before  it;  this  beating  heart  will 
be  stilled  on  a  sudden  and  for  ever.  And  after  that?  Will 
Death  be  followed  by  Eternity  and  a  reunion  with  our  loved 
ones,  or  do  we  sink  into  Nirvana  as  Rousseau,  Helvetius,  and 
the  other  freethinkers  declare? 

"  Thoughts  like  these  rushed  tumultuously  through  my 
mind  as  shuddering  I  laid  my  head  on  Clothilde's  breast  and, 
supported  by  her  arm,  tottered  into  the  courtyard  where  the 
other  victims  were  already  assembled,  and  only  awaiting  me 


IN  THE  TUMBRIL.,  8 1 

to  mount  the  cart — the  'coffin  for  the  living/  as  the  people 
called  it.  Into  this  we  were  now  dragged  and  hustled  and  had 
to  stand  closely  packed — some  thirty  of  us  altogether — under 
the  pitiless  rays  of  the  summer  sun  and  most  of  us  bare- 
headed. 

"  And  so  the  dolorous  journey  began. 

"  A  party  of  gendarmes — chosen  apparently  from  the  dregs 
of  the  people — surrounded  the  tumbril,  but  it  was  all  they 
could  do  to  protect  us  with  their  drawn  sabres  from  the  furious 
and  determined  onslaughts  of  the  mob,  which  ran  and  leapt 
beside  us  like  fierce  tigers,  sometimes  stretching  up  a  horrible 
brawny  hand  to  snatch  at  one  or  other  of  us. 

"  Among  them  was  one  woman,  a  hideous,  half-naked, 
blood-besmeared  hag,  who  seemed  to  have  conceived  a  special 
grudge  against  poor  unfortunate  me.  Whether  it  was  the 
white  silk  scarf  that  covered  my  shoulders,  or  that  she  regarded 
me  as  a  peculiarly  dangerous  criminal,  I  know  not,  but  she 
threw  stones  at  me  and  showered  the  most  abusive  epithets 
on  me.  Finally,  she  broke  through  the  ring  of  gendarmes, 
leapt  on  to  the  footboard  of  the  tumbril,  and,  holding  fast  to 
my  dress  by  one  gory  hand,  dealt  me  a  heavy  blow  in  the  face 
with  the  other  and  tore  my  silk  scarf  from  me.  Then,  with  a 
screech  of  derisive  laughter,  she  dropped  to  the  ground  and 
disappeared  with  her  booty  among  the  crowd. 

"  And  there  was  I  left  standing  weeping,  with  bare  neck 
and  shoulders  which  I  vainly  strove  to  cover  from  the  im- 
pudent gaze  of  the  crowd  with  my  arms,  and  God's  fair 
sun  shone  down  serenely  upon  all  these  abominations. 

"  At  last,  at  last,  we  reached  the  Abbaye  St.  Germain  and 
were  driven  into  the  courtyard  like  a  herd  of  cattle.  Here,  at 
a  filthy  table  covered  with  brandy-bottles  and  tobacco-pipes, 


82  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

sat  the  self-constituted  tribunal  presided  over  by  Maillard — 
the  same  ruffian  who  led  the  rabble  in  the  attack  on  Versailles 
— wearing  a  tricolour  sash  and  a  long  sword  at  his  side.  This 
was  the  bench  of  magistrates  who  in  the  name  of  Liberty,  Fra- 
ternity, and  Equality  was  to  pronounce  judgment  upon  us! 

"  The  accused  were  disposed  in  two  long  rows  in  front  of 
the  table,  and  as  I  was  in  the  back  one  I  was  compelled  to  wit- 
ness the  whole  proceedings  before  it  came  to  my  turn.  Each 
name  was  called,  and  at  last  the  terrible  Maillard  called: 
'  Citoyenne  Cecile  Courtot,  lady-in-waiting  to  the  citoyenne 
Lamballe! '  '  Here/  I  stammered  in  a  low  voice,  and  advanced 
a  step.  I  was  still  endeavouring  to  cover  my  neck  with  my 
hands,  but  immediately  two  wretches  pulled  them  down  and 
I  was  left  trembling  and  exposed  to  the  shameless  leers  and 
mocking  smiles  of  my  abominable  judges. 

"  Maillard  now  proceeded  to  interrogate  me.  '  Have  you, 
Cecile  Courtot,  ever  spoken  against  the  Republic?'  'No/  I 
faltered.  '  Have  you  circulated  aristocratical  pamphlets  ?  '  I, 
poor  hapless  one,  was  to  have  circulated  pamphlets!  I  lifted 
my  eyes  to  my  cruel  interrogator  and  answered,  '  No — never! ' 
I  was  beginning  to  falter  out  something  in  self-defence  when 
the  monster  roared  at  me:  'Silence — that  is  contempt  of 
court ! ' 

"  Maillard  then  apparently  set  a  mark  of  some  kind  against 
my  name  which  he  showed  with  a  grin  to  his  colleagues,  then 
at  a  sign  from  him  three  of  his  creatures  seized  me,  bound  my 
hands  behind  my  back  and  dragged  me  to  a  corner  of  the 
courtyard,  where  others  of  my  companions  in  death  were  hud- 
dled together  and  where  we  had  to  wait  till  our  numbers  were 
complete. 

"  Now  throughout  these  proceedings  I  had  retained  a  per- 


THE  MOCK  TRIAL.  83 

fectly  clear  mind.  I  watched  the  whole  scene — the  mere  re- 
collection of  which  after  all  these  years  makes  my  blood  run 
cold — as  if  it  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  me;  as  one  fol- 
lows the  course  of  a  tragedy  on  the  stage.  No  merciful  veil 
of  unconsciousness  fell  over  my  senses,  as  happened  to  several 
of  my  companions.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  where,  con- 
sidering how  weak  and  wretched  I  was  and  scarcely  recovered 
from  so  severe  an  illness,  I  got  such  strength  of  mind  that  day. 

"  Meanwhile  it  had  become  afternoon,  and  presently  the 
bell  that  erstwhile  had  called  the  pious  sisters  to  mass  struck 
three.  Our  hour  had  come.  We  were  driven  through  wide 
vaulted  passages  to  another  entrance  where  the  death-cart 
again  awaited  us  and  we  were  once  more  thrust  into  it.  All 
was  now  ready  for  the  start,  but  the  two  wretched  animals 
harnessed  to  the  overladen  tumbril  could  not  move  it  an  inch. 
Immediately  the  bloodthirsty  mob  gathered  round,  a  con- 
tingent of  hideous  viragos  seized  the  spokes  of  the  wheels  and 
pushed  the  vehicle  forward.  And  so  we  set  forth  upon  our 
second  pilgrimage  of  woe,  surrounded  by  a  band  of  drunken 
furies  leaping  and  yelling,  calling  us  foul  names  and  taunting 
us  with  our  approaching  end,  while  in  front  of  the  tumbril 
marched  the  main  body  of  the  rabble,  howling  the  Marseillaise 
and  headed  by  a  semi-nude  young  woman  bearing  aloft  a  great 
blood-red  flag. 

"  I  gazed  at  it  all  in  disgust  and  amazement.  Could  this 
canaille — distorted  out  of  all  human  semblance  by  the  lust  of 
blood — be  the  same  harmlessly  gay,  light-hearted  populace  I 
used  to  know?  From  what  hidden  dens  of  crime  had  these 
monsters  come  forth  who  now  called  themselves  the  French 
people? 

"A  nameless  terror  took  hold  upon  me  and  made  me 


84  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

long  for  the  end — for  now  I  was  actually  on  my  way  to  death ; 
only  a  little  span  of  time  separated  me  from  eternity. 

"  I  closed  my  eyes  to  shut  out  the  revolting  sights  around 
me  and  absorbed  my  whole  spirit,  my  every  thought,  in  pas- 
sionate prayer  to  God,  entreating  Him  to  deal  mercifully  with 
me,  to  let  my  last  agony  be  short  and  then  receive  my  un- 
worthy soul  to  be  with  Him  in  heaven. 

"  This  prayer  accomplished,  I  allowed  my  thoughts  to 
dwell  once  more  entirely  with  my  lover,  invoking  every  fond 
blessing  upon  him,  and  praying  that  God  would  guard  him 
and  at  least  permit  him  to  remain  in  life. 

"  Thus  occupied  in  fervent  commune  with  Heaven,  my 
soul  had  already  cast  off  its  earthly  shackles  and  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  other  world.  Suddenly  I  was  recalled  to 
earth  by  a  shrill  clamour  of  voices  and  the  violent  stoppage 
of  the  tumbril.  Opening  my  eyes,  I  saw  that  our  way  was 
barred  by  a  hand-cart  on  which  lay  a  small  barrel.  The  street 
took  a  sharp  bend  and  happened  at  that  point  to  be  per- 
pendicularly narrow,  so  that  the  cart  completely  blocked  the 
thoroughfare  and  was  apparently  fixed  to  the  ground  in  some 
way,  for  though  the  people  pushed  and  dragged  at  it,  .they 
failed  to  move  it. 

"  Scarcely  had  I  realised  the  nature  of  the  obstruction, 
when  a  shot  was  fired  from  one  of  the  houses  and  the  next 
moment  there  was  a  terrific  explosion — we  prisoners  were 
thrown  violently  against  one  another,  and  I,  stunned  and  half 
senseless,  scarcely  knew  what  was  happening  around  me.  The 
earth  seemed  to  yawn  before  my  very  eyes  and  a  vast  pillar 
of  fire  rose  into  the  sky.  The  houses  rocked,  shutters  were 
loosened  and  fell  clattering  to  the  ground,  and  the  air  was 
darkened  by  a  thick  cloud  of  smoke  and  dust,  while  from  a 


SAVED  BY  HECTOR.  85 

hundred  voices  came  shrieks  of  pain  or  the  groans  of  the 
dying.  It  might  have  been  the  end  of  the  world. 

"  The  cart  and  everything  in  front  of  it  lay  in  ruins,  and 
I  found  myself  half  buried  under  a  heap  of  struggling,  groan- 
ing people.  Wonderful  to  relate,  though  nearly  every  one  in 
the  vicinity  had  been  more  or  less  severely  wounded  by  the  ex- 
plosion, I  had  remained  unhurt,  but  lying  where  I  did,  I  was 
absolutely  powerless  to  move  or  make  any  effort  to  escape, 
though  complete  panic  had  seized  upon  the  people,  and  every 
one  who  was  able  was  fleeing  from  the  scene  of  the  disaster. 

"  So  I  lay  motionless  where  I  was  and  resigned  to  my  fate. 
Suddenly  a  dear  familiar  voice  struck  upon  my  ear:  'My 
Cecile,  rouse  yourself ;  it  is  I,'  came  the  whisper.  I  thought  I 
must  be  dead  and  that  my  lover  was  welcoming  me  in  heaven. 

"  '  Cecile/  he  murmured  again,  '  my  Cecile ! '  I  opened  my 
eyes — over  me  leaned  a  blackened  face  out  of  which  a  pair 
of  blue  eyes  gazed  tenderly  at  me.  Oh  heavens — those  were 
Hector's  dear  eyes! 

"  '  Hector/  I  stammered  faintly,  '  can  it  be  you  ? '  Could 
it  be  that  I  was  granted  the  unspeakable  blessing  of  seeing 
my  lover  once  again  and  bidding  him  farewell  before  I  died? 
: '  Quick,  Cecile ! '  he  answered  in  the  same  low  tones.  '  I 
have  come  to  save  you.'  Save  me?  That  word  brought  me 
back  to  earth  with  a  thrill  of  half-incredulous  joy,  and  my 
head  sank  upon  his  breast. 

"  Only  then  did  Hector  perceive  that  my  hands  were 
bound.  One  cut  with  his  knife  and  I  was  free.  I  wound  my 
arms  about  his  neck,  and  he  dragged  me  out  from  under  the 
wounded  and  set  me  on  my  feet.  Then,  in  the  midst  of  all 
that  horror  and  alarm,  he  clasped  me  to  his  heart  and  pressed 
his  lips  to  mine  in  a  long  clinging  kiss. — Oh  God,  little  did  I 


86  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

think  it  was  to  be  the  last  kiss  we  should  ever  exchange  in 
this  life ! 

"  Hector's  next  thought  was  to  get  clear  of  the  chaos.  He 
was  hurrying  with  me  to  an  open  doorway  close  by,  when  a 
gendarme,  who  had  managed  to  extricate  himself  from  under 
one  of  the  horses,  caught  sight  of  us,  and  with  a  cry  of  '  Halte 
la !  halte  la ! '  rushed  at  us  with  drawn  sword.  At  the  same 
moment,  another  disguised  man  appeared  at  Hector's  side,  to 
whom  my  lover  cried,  as  he  disengaged  my  arms  from  his 
neck,  '  Take  her,  Tancred ;  I  will  cover  your  retreat ! '  Then, 
seizing  his  friend's  heavy  bludgeon,  he  hurled  himself  on  our 
pursuer.  There  was  a  short,  fierce  struggle ;  I  saw  my  lover's 
weapon  descend  with  a  crashing  blow  on  the  miscreant's  head, 
but  simultaneously  the  gendarme's  sabre  struck  Hector. 
I  saw  him  fall  covered  with  blood  from  a  frightful  gash  across 
his  forehead — saw  the  returning  crowd  close  over  him  like  a 
wave — saw  him  trampled  under  foot — and  knew  no  more :  a 
deep  and  blessed  unconsciousness  came  to  my  relief. 

"  Many  weary  hours  must  have  passed  before  I  awoke 
from  my  swoon  and  found  myself  lying  on  old  Nurse  Gervais' 
bed,  whither  Hector's  friend,  Tancred  d'Aubignac,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  conveying  me.  Gervais  nursed  me  tenderly;  in  a 
few  days  I  was  able  to  leave  my  bed,  and  shortly  afterwards 
managed  to  escape  with  d'Aubignac  out  of  that  dreadful  city 
disguised  as  a  peasant  boy.  We  made  our  way — chiefly  under 
cover  of  night — through  France  till  we  got  across  the  fron- 
tier to  Holland,  but  during  the  whole  time  I  seemed  to  be 
living  in  a  dream.  A  dull  weight  lay  upon  my  spirit,  crush- 
ing my  senses  and  blunting  my  memory.  My  one  absorbing 
thought  was  to  get  away  from  this  land  of  terror — to  Ger- 
many, if  possible,  there  to  find  rest  and  a  grave. 


CECILE  ESCAPES  INTO   GERMAN V.  87 

"  Why  to  Germany  in  particular,  you  will  ask.  Per- 
sistently there  ran  in  my  mind  a  description  I  had  heard  from 
Madame  de  Stae'l  of  the  beautiful  Luise  of  Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz,  the  betrothed  of  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick  William 
of  Prussia,  whom  she  had  met  while  visiting  the  Landgravine 
of  Hesse,  and  who  would  soon  come  to  live  at  Potsdam. 
Somehow  this  description  had  taken  a  great  hold  on  my 
imagination,  and  I  felt  an  intense  longing  to  get  to  Germany. 
Thus  we  succeeded  in  avoiding  the  French  troops  stationed 
in  Holland  and  arrived  at  last  in  Roermonde,  then  occupied 
by  your  countrymen. 

"  How  I  met  Colonel  Rauchhaupt  in  the  house  of  Madame 
la  Saque  and  through  his  great  kindness  was  passed  on  to 
you,  my  dear  friends, — all  this  you  know. 

"  Tancred  d'Aubignac,  having  fulfilled  his  mission  and 
placed  me  in  safety,  returned  to  France  and  moreover  to  our 
part  of  the  country,  the  Vendee,  there  to  fight  and  *  wreak 
vengeance  on  the  Republic  for  Hector's  death.'  I  never 
heard  of  him  again.  Doubtless  he  fell,  like  so  many  of  my 
compatriots,  in  the  bloody  struggles  of  the  Vendean  war. 

"  There,  my  dear  friends,"  concluded  Cecile,  "  you  have 
the  disastrous  story  of  my  life.  It  might  have  been  so  happy, 
and  turned  out  so  sad.  You  indeed  have  waked  me  to  new 
life,  but  you  will  now  understand  how  impossible  it  was  for 
me,  after  such  an  irreparable  loss,  to  accept  the  love  even  of 
the  man  to  whom  I  owed  such  a  debt  of  gratitude.  You  will 
not  think  the  less  of  me,  I  am  sure." 

My  poor,  poor  Cecile,  dear  sweet  soul,  what  griefs  have 
been  crowded  into  your  life!  And  how  friendless  and  for- 
lorn in  those  days  of  terrible  loss !  I  asked  her  if  she  had  no 
relatives  or  near  friends  in  France  with  whom  she  might  have 


88  CECILE  CONTINUES  HER  STORY. 

sought  refuge,  but  she  answered  No ;  for  with  the  exception 
of  a  boy  cousin,  Camille  de  Courtot,  she  possessed  not  a  single 
relative  of  her  name. 

"  My  father's  brother,"  she  went  on  to  explain,  "  lost  his 
first  wife,  Camille's  mother,  and  afterwards  married  a  Dutch 
lady,  a  Mademoiselle  de  Taets,  who,  at  my  uncle's  death,  set- 
tled with  Camille  in  Brussels.  I  do  not  know  her,  but,  from 
all  accounts,  she  has  been  a  good  mother  to  Camille.  He 
must  be  about  eighteen  now,  and  I  trust  he  will  one  day  do 
honour  to  our  ancient  name. 

"  I  had  plenty  of  good  friends  and  acquaintances,  of 
course,"  she  continued,  "  but  the  question  was  where  to  seek 
them.  My  native  province,  the  Vendee,  was  in  open  revolt 
and  my  friends  in  Paris  scattered  to  the  four  winds.  The 
most  intimate  among  them  were  the  Marquise  de  Montesson 
and  the  Duchess  Edmee  de  Brankas,  but  I  had  utterly  lost 
sight  of  both.  The  Marquise,  whose  maiden  name  was  Char- 
lotte Beraud  de  la  Haye  de  Rion,  was  morganatically  married 
to  Duke  Louis  d'Orleans.  As  a  child  I  had  often  visited  her 
at  her  chateau  of  Mont  Rose  in  the  Champagne,  and  later 
on,  too,  in  Paris,  where  she  lived  after  her  husband's  death, 
and  she  had  been  quite  like  a  mother  to  me.  But  Edmee 
stood  nearer  to  me  as  being  more  of  my  own  age,  and  gladly 
would  I  have  fled  to  her,  but  where  was  she? — I  had  not  the 
most  remote  idea.  Therefore  I  set  all  my  hopes  on  getting 
away  from  this  land  where  murder  stalked  openly  in  the  noon- 
day. 

"And  see  how  infinitely  better  it  all  turned  out  for  me 
than  I  ever  dreamed!  And  to  you,  my  dear  ones,  I  owe  it 
all.  You  have  brought  me  back  to  life,  have  raised  my 
broken  spirit  which  was  well-nigh  crushed  by  the  terrible  ex- 


CECILE'S  GRATITUDE.  89 

periences  I  have  endured;  you  have  restored  my  faith  in 
human  nature  and  led  me  to  feel,  as  I  never  thought  I  could 
again,  that  life  was  worth  living.  Never  can  I  forget  your 
love  and  kindness — no,  not  as  long  as  I  live!  " 

Saying  which  Cecile  cast  herself  sobbing  into  my  arms, 
and  I  pressed  the  dear  girl  fondly  to  my  heart,  feeling  that  the 
full  knowledge  of  her  dreadful  trials  and  sufferings  only  made 
me  love  her  the  more. 

This  has  indeed  been  a  memorable,  a  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten day  to  me ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  YEARS  1795  AND  1796. 

THE  winter  slipped  peacefully  away  for  the  Alvenslebens 
and  their  friend  Cecile,  and  the  diary  scarcely  makes  mention  of 
anything  but  a  visit  from  or  to  relations  or  friends.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  descriptions  of  the  quiet  doings  and  unruffled  hap- 
piness of  their  home  life  are  all  the  more  frequent,  and  the 
two  ladies  were  soon  like  sisters.  Little  Phillinchen  grew 
apace  and  was  brought  up  and  doubtless  spoiled  by  both 
ladies — indeed  there  are  not  a  few  sentences  in  the  diary  at 
this  period,  such  as  "  Cecile  is  spoiling  the  child,"  or  "  Phil- 
linchen always  wants  to  go  to  her,"  which  would  seem  to 
point  to  a  slight  jealousy  between  them  on  that  tender  sub- 
ject. 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  the  long  discussed 
plan  of  a  visit  to  Berlin  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  Cecile's 
jewels  was  carried  out,  an  invitation  from  Werner's  cousin 
Philipp  von  Alvensleben-Erxleben,  who  occupied  a  high  offi- 
cial position  in  Berlin,  affording  a  suitable  opportunity.  At 
first,  apparently,  all  three  were  to  have  gone,  but  as  Anna- 
Hebe  nursed  her  baby  herself  this  plan  had  to  be  deferred 
till  a  later  day.  Accordingly,  towards  the  end  of  February, 
my  great-grandfather  set  out  for  Berlin,  taking  Cecile's  jewels 
with  him,  and,  on  his  arrival,  despatched  the  following  letter 

to  his  wife: 

90 


WERNER'S  FIRST  LETTER   FROM   BERLIN.  9! 

BERLIN,  March  5,  1795. 
Schinkenplatz  n. 

I  cannot  let  this  first  day  of  my  arrival  here  pass,  my  dear- 
est heart,  without  sending  you  tidings  of  my  journey,  though 
you  must  surely  have  felt  how  my  every  thought  was  with 
you  as  yours  are  with  me — in  heart  we  are  ever  together. — 
But  how  strange  it  seems  to  be  without  you,  now  for  the  first 
time  since  we  were  made  one !  I  miss  you  at  every  turn ;  I 
find  myself  constantly  deferring  to  your  advice  and  judgment ; 
in  truth,  you  are  for  ever  with  me,  though  separated  by  many 
a  weary  mile.  And  I  long  most  impatiently  for  news  of  you, 
which,  God  willing,  I  trust  may  only  be  good. — I  made  the 
journey  here  in  fairly  good  time,  spending  the  first  midday 
and  afternoon  at  Liideritz,  and  only  taking  the  road  again 
early  in  the  evening.  Ludolf  and  Sophie  were  both  at  home 
and  send  you  their  love.  For  the  rest,  it  was  not  over-enjoy- 
able there.  The  two  disagree  perpetually,  so  that  I  almost 
fear  it  will  come  to  a  separation.  Sophie  will  have  her  own 
way  in  everything  regardless  of  her  husband's  wishes.  With 
her  tribe  of  children  (there  are  eight  of  them  now,  or  rather 
nine,  counting  the  nephew  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Philipp)  she 
is  on  the  best  of  terms;  only  with  Ludolf  she  cannot  get 
on  at  all.  God  grant  things  may  yet  improve  with  them! — 
I  afterwards  paid  a  flying  visit  to  Schonhausen.  They  were 
all  at  home,  including  the  new  Herr  Lieutenant,  the  nephew, 
and  all  send  you  affectionate  greetings. — Then,  by  way  of 
Rathenow  and  Nauen,  I  arrived  here  safely  yesterday  after- 
noon, and  received  a  most  hearty  welcome  from  Cousin 
Philipp.  He  declares  that  he  cannot  let  me  go  again  under 
a  week,  as  he  is  determined  to  show  me  Berlin  and  its  so- 
ciety thoroughly  now  that  I  am  once  here.  But  I  am  not 


92  THE  YEARS    1795   AND   1796. 

sure  that  I  can  hold  out  so  long  before  returning  to  you,  my 
dearest  soul. 

Philipp  occupies  a  most  important — almost,  I  may  say, 
all-powerful  position  here.  He  and  Schulenberg-Kehnert  are 
Count  Herzberg's,  the  Prime  Minister's,  official  colleagues, 
without  whom  he  may  not  decide  anything.  Why  the  decrepit 
old  man  is  not  entirely  set  aside  is  difficult  to  understand.  I 
fancy  it  is  out  of  consideration  for  Austria.  It  would  not  sur- 
prise me  if  Philipp  were  one  day  Minister  himself.  In  any 
case,  he  is  making  a  brilliant  career. 

I  went  first  thing  to-day  to  the  Court  jeweller  Ephraim, 
15  Unter  den  Linden,  about  the  jewels.  He  said  he  would  first 
examine  the  stones  carefully  and  then  make  an  offer.  When 
I  asked  for  a  rough  estimate  of  their  value,  he  said  five  to  six 
thousand  thalers — we  hardly  expected  so  much,  did  we?  On 
the  other  hand,  my  news  regarding  Cecile's  French  rentes  is 
not  so  inspiriting.  The  banker  Levy  strongly  advises  against 
trying  to  sell  out.  He  says  it  is  the  enormous  issue  of  Assignats 
by  the  Republic  which  has  so  depreciated  the  value  of  French 
scrip,  and  that  there  is  no  knowing  what  may  happen  later 
on.  Please  tell  Cecile  this.  It  is  fortunate  for  her  that  the 
sale  of  the  jewels  will  repair  this  loss  to  her.  I  will  invest  the 
sum  in  good  Prussian  bonds. 

We  sat  up  late  last  night  listening  to  Philipp's  extraordi- 
nary stories  of  the  Court  and  the  society  of  the  capital,  the 
most  astounding  of  all  being  that  Madame  Pompadour  (the 
Lichtenau,  you  know)  had  been  created  a  Countess  with  the 
addition  of  four  ancestors  on  each  side  of  the  house!  What 
do  you  think  of  that  ?  Imagine,  if  you  please,  her  father,  Mon- 
sieur the  Trumpet-Major  Enke,  as  a  Count  thus  late  in  the 


BERLIN  GOSSIP.  93 

day !  Isn't  it  enough  to  make  one  laugh,  though  perhaps  tears 
would  be  more  in  place  ? 

They  say  the  King  is  very  ill  and  that  consequently  the 
Rietz  will  shortly  return  from  Italy,  where  she  was  evidently 
received  with  almost  royal  honours.  She  holds  complete  sway 
here  just  as  before. 

There  are  many  refugees  living  both  here  and  at  Potsdam. 
The  Marquise  de  Navaillac,  about  whom  I  enquired,  is  ap- 
parently still  here.  Philipp  tells  me  that  these  French  people 
have  great  influence  with  the  Rietz  and  are  therefore  much 
sought  after  here;  he  mentioned  the  following  names  :  Colonel 
de  Dampmartin,  Gentleman-in-waiting  to  Count  von  der  Mark 
(Frau  von  Rietz's  son) ;  further,  the  Chevalier  Saint-Paterne, 
nicknamed  "  chambellan  des  coulisses."  Then  there  is  a  Mon- 
sieur de  Chappuis  de  la  Combay,  tutor  to  the  young  Count 
von  der  Mark,  and  his  sister,  Mademoiselle  de  Chappuis,  com- 
panion to  Frau  von  Rietz.  Philipp  mentioned  besides  the 
Baroness  Denis,  Prince  Maurice  de  Broglio,  the  Abbe  d'An- 
delard,  Chevalier  Saint- Ygnon,  and  several  more. 

Maybe  that  our  Cecile  knows  some  of  these  names,  but 
they  are  on  the  whole  a  rather  dubious  set — I  do  not  include 
the  Marquise  de  Navaillac — attracted  here  most  probably  by 
the  Rietz  and  her  following. 

BERLIN,  March  6,  1795. 

I  was  interrupted  in  my  yesterday's  letter  to  you,  dearest, 
by  Philipp,  who  came  to  take  me  to  the  theatre.  I  found  it 
very  hard  to  break  off  in  my  pleasant  task,  but  it  was 
well  worth  it,  and  I  only  regretted  that  you  were  not  at  my 
side  to  enjoy  the  beauty  and  entertainment  with  me.  Mara 
gave  a  concert  in  the  theatre.  I  can  only  say  that  it  was  mag- 


94  THE   YEARS   1795   AND    1796. 

nificent  and  would  have  been  finer  still  had  not  the  orchestra — 
with  whom  the  capricious  diva  had  been  on  a  strained  footing 
from  the  first — been  decidedly  out  of  temper  and  therefore 
played  very  coldly  throughout.  Nevertheless,  the  incom- 
parable singer  scored  a  complete  triumph.  Everybody  was 
lost  in  delight  and  amazement  at  this  Ninon  of  the  world  of 
song  who,  even  compared  with  the  most  renowned  singers  of 
her  time,  is  as  a  giant  among  dwarfs.  Besides  being  enrap- 
tured by  her  beautiful  voice,  I  was  much  interested  in  the  other 
occupant  of  our  loge,  a  very  pleasant-looking  lady,  whose 
snow-white  hair  contrasted  strikingly  with  her  dark  eyes  and 
still  youthful  features,  and  who  occupied  the  seat  immediately 
in  front  of  me.  Who  do  you  think  it  proved  to  be  ?  Why,  no 
other  than  the  Marquise  de  Navaillac !  You  may  imagine  my 
pleasurable  surprise  on  hearing  the  name,  and  I  at  once 
begged  Philipp  to  present  me. 

We  immediately  fell  into  the  most  friendly  conversation, 
and  when  I  presently  mentioned  Baroness  Cecile  the  lady  was 
overjoyed.  She  insisted  on  my  telling  her  all  I  knew  of  Cecile's 
fate,  how  long  she  had  been  with  us — everything.  She  had 
long  since  accounted  her  dead.  In  Cecile's  interest  I  then  en- 
quired about  other  personages  whom  our  friend  had  men- 
tioned as  being  her  intimates.  The  Duchess  Edmee,  said  the 
Marquise,  had  long  since  returned  to  Paris  and,  through  the 
influence  of  the  all-powerful  Barras,  regained  possession  of 
her  estates.  The  Marquise  de  Montesson  seems  likewise  to 
have  returned,  so  the  Bishop  of  Clermont,  who  lives  in  Gotha, 
had  written.  We  were  so  deeply  engaged  in  conversation  that 
even  after  the  close  of  the  concert  we  remained  together  for 
some  time  in  the  foyer.  I  gathered  all  the  news  I  could  for 
Cecile's  benefit,  and  shall  have  more  to  tell  her  when  we 


WERNER'S  SECOND  LETTER  FROM  BERLIN.  95 

meet.  The  Marquise  finally  expressed  the  hope  of  seeing  you 
and  Cecile  here  before  very  long  and  begged  me  to  convey  her 
affectionate  greetings  to  her  conipatriote  in  the  mean  time. 

And  now,  dear  heart,  good  night  and  pleasant  dreams  to 
you,  my  dearest,  sweetest  wife. 

To  all  Eternity, 

Your  WERNER. 

WERNER'S  SECOND  LETTER  FROM  BERLIN. 

BERLIN,  March  9,  1795. 

Let  me  hasten,  my  precious  Annaliebe,  to  tell  you  how 
more  than  happy  I  was  to  receive  your  sweet  letter.  It  is  a 
pleasure  fraught  with  pain  to  assure  you  ever  afresh  that  the 
separation  from  my  beloved  wife  becomes  daily  more  unen- 
durable to  me.  My  business  here  need  not  detain  me  much 
longer,  however,  and  I  shall  make  all  haste  back  to  you.  Mat- 
ters are  progressing  favourably  with  respect  to  Cecile's  jewels. 
The  jeweller  Harnisch  offers  6000  thalers  for  them.  Let  me 
have  a  little  line  from  you,  dearest,  by  return  to  say  if  this  ar- 
rangement is  agreeable  to  Cecile. 

I  met  a  number  of  our  relatives  and  friends  since  my  first 
letter  to  you ;  fat  cousin  George  of  the  mounted  gendarmes 
begged  to  be  specially  remembered  to  you. 

From  all  I  hear,  society,  and  especially  that  connected  with 
the  Court,  is  in  a  sorry  state,  and  I  am  heartily  glad  that  we 
are  not  obliged  to  live  in  it.  I  confess  I  should  never  have 
deemed  it  possible  that  morality  could  be  so  lightly  thought  of 
as  is  here  the  case,  even  in  the  highest  grades  of  society.  How 
you,  sweet  soul,  would  shine  among  these  women!  Do  you 
remember  Briest  once  telling  us  of  the  prophecy  Frederick  the 
Great  is  said  to  have  made  to  Count  Floym? 


96  THE   YEARS   1795   AND    1796. 

"  There  will  be  gay  doings  at  Court  after  my  death.  My 
nephew  will  squander  my  treasure  and  let  the  army  deterio- 
rate. Women  will  have  all  the  power  in  their  hands  and  the 
State  will  go  to  rack  and  ruin !  " 

If  the  last  clause  is,  I  trust,  an  exaggeration,  the  rest  has 
certainly  come  true.  I  can  say  to  you  in  confidence  that  the 
stories  I  hear  on  every  hand  are  positively  dreadful!  You 
have  no  conception  what  all  these  women  cost.  Then  the  left- 
hand  marriages  of  the  King  alone  set  at  naught  all  moral  law. 
And  what  shall  be  said  of  a  pastor  who,  taking  Luther's 
toleration  of  the  Hessian  Frederick's  twofold  marriages  for  a 
precedent,  solemnizes  such  a  union !  How  will  it  react  upon 
the  masses?  In  truth  the  state  of  things  is  infinitely  worse 
than  that  which  undermined  the  throne  of  France.  And 
withal  such  lauding  to  the  skies,  such  cringing  and  accom- 
modation to  the  Royal  fancies!  It  is  quite  beyond  my  com- 
prehension. The  Countess  Sophie  Donhoff  is,  to  my  mind, 
the  best  of  the  lot;  not  but  what  it  is  a  crying  shame  that 
her  illustrious  family  should,  out  of  pure  greed,  have  given 
their  consent  to  this  soi-disant  marriage.  She,  at  least,  had 
the  courage  to  tell  the  King  the  unvarnished  truth  for  once. 
You  remember  Rauchhaupt  told  us  the  story,  how  she  wrote 
to  the  King  at  the  beginning  of  the  Rhine  campaign :  "  I 
will  have  nothing  further  to  do  with  you,  if  you  so  lightly 
undertake  so  weighty  an  enterprise.  To  start  on  such  a  war 
in  a  manner  befitting  your  position  you  should  be  at  the  head 
of  at  least  300,000  men.  With  the  handful  you  have,  you 
merely  risk  your  life  and  jeopardise  your  honour."  Those  were 
her  very  words — so  several  people  here  have  told  me;  in- 
deed, they  say  that  on  his  return  from  the  war  the  Countess 
called  her  royal  spouse  a  Don  Quixote.  Imagine  the  effect 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CROWN  PRINCESS.  97 

of  such  words  on  such  a  King,  who  has  always  been  sur- 
rounded by  lickspittles  and  fawning  sycophants!  He  repu- 
diated the  courageous  woman  and  now  she  lives  in  Anger- 
miinde,  but,  it  is  said,  much  prefers  to  be  there  in  retirement 
to  living  in  greater  splendour  at  Court,  where  she  had  to  play 
second  fiddle  to  Madame  Rietz. 

Philipp  gave  me  these  details  on  our  meeting  the  Don- 
hofiV  two  children  in  a  royal  carriage.  They  have  been  taken 
away  from  the  poor  mother  and  brought  up  under  the  eye 
of  the  Countess  Lichtenau  in  Potsdam.  They  bear  the  title 
of  Count  and  Countess  Brandenburg.  All  these  things  are 
surely  an  outrage  on  the  moral  sense  of  the  worthy  burgher 
classes ! 

Yet  out  of  the  very  heart  of  this  slough  of  wickedness  the 
conjugal  happiness  of  the  Crown  Prince  and  his  lovely  con- 
sort and  the  high  moral  tone  of  their  Court  stand  forth 
like  an  island  of  purity  and  honour.  I  had  an  excellent 
opportunity  of  observing  the  handsome  couple  last  eve- 
ning at  the  theatre,  where  they  gave  "  Don  Giovanni " 
with  Wollner  in  the  title  role.  I  am  bound  to  confess  that 
I  did  not  see  much  of  the  opera,  my  whole  attention  being 
concentrated  on  the  beautiful  Crown  Princess  Luise  and  her 
husband,  who,  instead  of  occupying  the  Royal  box,  were  in  a 
smaller  one  near  the  stage,  so  that  I  had  a  full  view  of  them. 
Oh,  Annaliebe,  she  is  like  a  denizen  of  another  sphere!  With 
her  great  blue  eyes,  the  exquisite  oval  of  her  face,  the  per- 
fect grace  of  her  figure,  she  is  a  very  pearl  among  women! 
No  wonder  the  whole  world  seems  enthralled  by  her.  Would 
that  I  could  paint  her  for  you  just  as  I  saw  her  in  all  her 
radiant  beauty,  her  fair  white  arm  leaning  upon  the  velvet 
cushion  of  the  loge.  She  wore— and  this  will  interest  you  two 


98  THE  YEARS  1795  AND  1796. 

more  particularly — a  white  muslin  gown,  with  a  little  posy 
of  violets  fastened  at  her  bosom,  and  a  kind  of  turban  of  silver- 
spangled  crepe  on  her  wonderful  blonde  hair.  Round  her 
throat  was  draped  a  curious  filmy  scarf  like  a  veil  of  delicate 
white  lace.  Philipp  explained  to  me  that  soon  after  her  ar- 
rival in  Berlin  her  Royal  Highness  had  suffered  from  a  slight 
swelling  in  the  neck  and  took  to  wearing  this  scarf  in  order 
to  hide  it.  The  scar  has  long  since  disappeared,  but  she  re- 
tained the  habit  of  wearing  the  scarf  and,  strange  to  say,  the 
ladies  have  adopted  it  as  a  settled  fashion  and  all  go  about 
now  with  their  neck  thus  enveloped. 

You  will  see  from  this,  sweetheart,  how  keen  must  have 
been  my  scrutiny  of  her  beautiful  Highness.  Nevertheless, 
I  have  no  desire  to  see  you  follow  this  fashion  and  so  deprive 
me  of  the  pleasing  sight  of  your  fair  white  neck. 

In  attendance  on  the  Crown  Princess  were  Frau  von  Voss, 
the  first  Lady-in-waiting,  and  two  maids  of  honour,  Fraulein 
von  Viereck  and  Fraulein  von  Moltke;  and  as  Gentleman- 
in-waiting  my  old  schoolfellow  Freiherr  Fritz  von  Schilden. 
The  Crown  Prince  preserved  a  very  solemn  demeanour 
throughout  the  evening — as  indeed  all  his  tendencies  appear 
to  be  towards  a  grave,  not  to  say  stern,  view  of  life.  Philipp 
describes  him  as  an  upright,  simple-minded  and  conscientious 
man,  and  all  the  arrangements  of  his  household  on  a  most 
unpretentious  scale.  What  must  not  the  poor  Prince  and 
his  chaste  and  noble-minded  consort  have  to  suffer  when, 
as  often  happens,  they  are  compelled  by  order  of  the  King  to 
attend  the  soirees  of  this  Madame  Pompadour!  The  woman 
has  actually  received  the  whole  Court  in  her  own  apartments. 
It  must  be  a  bitter  indignity  for  the  Crown  Prince  to  see 


BERLIN  BEAUTIES.  99 

his  mother  and  his  wife  compulsory  guests  of  his  father's 
mistress. 

I  thought  it  only  right  and  proper  to  wait  on  Frau  von 
Voss  as  an  old  and  valued  friend  of  my  dear  mother.  So  I 
went  there  yesterday  and  was  most  cordially  received.  She 
then  invited  me  to  spend  the  evening  and  meet  a  few  of  her 
friends — very  charming  people,  as  I  afterwards  found. 
Among  them  was  a  Countess  Bassewitz  with  two  very  sweet 
daughters,  Agnes  and  Luise.  A  more  faultless  beauty  you 
cannot  picture  to  yourself;  not  but  what  I  should  be  almost 
inclined  to  award  the  palm  to  her  elder  sister,  who,  though 
far  inferior  to  her  in  beauty,  is  endued  with  an  irrepressible 
and  irresistible  charm.  Whether,  or  to  what  degree,  the  two 
sisters  possess  those  more  solid  virtues  which  are  of  more 
enduring  value  in  life  than  the  witchery  of  a  lovely  exterior, 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  One  quality,  at  least,  they  have 
in  common,  heaven's  inestimable  gift — patent  in  their  every 
look  and  word — of  a  sunny  and  kindly  disposition,  also  an 
inexhaustible  fund  of  good  humour  and  as  much  intelligence 
as  any  woman  need  have. 

I  am  not  exaggerating — even  Philipp,  who  hovers  with 
the  same  calm  impartiality  round  ancient  dames  and  pretty 
maids-of-honour ;  who  is  held,  by  those  who  know  him,  totally 
incapable  of  anything  like  sentimental  enthusiasms,  has  a 
touch  of  it  here  and  received  the  news  that  this  was  the  last 
evening  we  should  have  the  Flower  of  the  Schlippenbachs 
(so  they  call  the  elder  sister)  in  our  midst  with  a  mournful 
smile. 

At  my  initial  visit  to  Frau  von  Voss  I  met  the  Countess 
Reventlow,  who  informed  me  that  she  was  going  with 
Madame  Schulenburg  to-morrow  evening  to  the  Queen's  re- 


ICO  THE  YEARS   1795   AND    1796. 

ception,  where  doubtless  they  would  suffer  terribly  from  ennui 
as  usual — could  I  not  manoeuvre  so  that  Philipp  and  I  came 
on  there  after  our  evening  with  Frau  von  Voss? 

I  took  the  hint  and  sent  in  my  name  forthwith  to  Madame 
la  Comtesse  Schulenburg,  first  Lady-in-waiting  to  her 
Majesty,  and,  accordingly,  have  just  received  an  invitation  to 
the  reception.  I  shall  therefore  drive  on  there  and  have  a  lit- 
tle chat  about  it  afterwards  with  you. 

11.30   P.M. 

There,  dear  heart,  I  have  just  returned  from  Her  Majesty's 
assembled  and  at  once  proceed  to  give  you  an  account  of  the 
same.  To  tell  the  truth  I  did  not  expect  much,  but  in  the  end 
it  proved  more  entertaining  than  I  had  anticipated.  I  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Queen  and  very  graciously  received.  She  was 
pleased  to  enquire  as  to  my  part  in  the  late  war,  and  also  spoke 
of  you  in  highly  gracious  terms. 

Now,  I  need  not  tell  you,  sweetheart,  that  anyone  who  does 
that  wins  my  heart  on  the  instant.  She  made  allusion  to  your 
home  in  Westphalia  and  to  various  other  matters  which 
greatly  surprised  me.  Her  Majesty,  whom  I  had  never  seen 
before,  is  tall  and  slender,  and,  despite  her  heavy  troubles, 
well-preserved.  But  there  are  unmistakable  traces  of  suffering 
in  her  gentle  face  infinitely  touching  to  the  feeling  heart. 
Prince  Ludwig,  the  husband  of  the  fascinating  Princess  of 
Strelitz,  was  also  there — the  Princess  herself,  to  my  great 
regret,  was  absent  on  a  visit  to  Darmstadt.  Neither  were  the 
Crown  Prince  and  Princess  present,  although  they  had  ac- 
cepted the  invitation. 

The  company  afterwards  disposed  themselves  in  a  wide 
circle,  an  arrangement  which,  as  a  rule,  is  not  conducive  to 
agreeable  conversation,  but  it  proved  better  than  I  expected. 


THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  THE  PALACE.  IOI 

I  forget  exactly  how  the  subject  of  France  came  on  the  tapis, 
or  who  first  made  mention  of  the  unfortunate  Royal  family, 
but  presently  the  Queen  began  relating  some  very  interesting 
stories  in  connection  with  her  brother-in-law,  the  Czarewitch 
Paul,  when,  as  the  Comte  du  Nord,  he  was  the  guest  of  the 
Royal  family  in  Paris,  1789.  You  both  shall  hear  them  from 
me  later  on.  Then  the  conversation  turned  upon  events  in 
general  in  Paris  and  some  one  mentioned  the  Princess  de 
Lamballe;  whereupon  the  Marquise  de  Navaillac  broke  in, 
saying,  "  On  that  subject,  Your  Majesty,  Baron  Alvensleben 
is  better  informed  than  any  of  us,  for  the  Baroness  de  Courtot, 
dame  d'atour  to  the  unfortunate  Princess,  has  resided  for  some 
time  in  his  house."  All  eyes  were  immediately  turned  upon 
me,  so,  at  a  leading  question  from  the  Queen,  I  was  con- 
strained to  give  an  account  of  Cecile's  terrible  experiences. 

Her  Majesty  listened  with  great  interest,  and  was  un- 
feignedly  moved  at  the  tale  of  Cecile's  grievous  troubles.  She 
expressed  her  sympathy  in  feeling  terms,  and  was  pleased  to 
intimate  her  desire  to  have  our  dear  friend  presented  to  her. 
Altogether,  she  showed  herself  sympathetic  and  warm-hearted 
to  a  degree  most  unusual  with  her,  Countess  Schulenburg 
affirms. 

Supper  was  taken  at  separate  little  tables — a  fashion  intro- 
duced here  by  a  certain  Count  Matuscka,  a  Silesian — and 
chance  threw  several  of  us  friends  together.  There  were  the 
two  Countesses  Schlippenbach,  Countess  Lottum,  Countess 
Schulenburg,  and  Madame  von  Saldern,  with  Albert  Schlip- 
penbach, a  Herr  von  Langenn,  Masson,  Philipp,  and  myself. 
Albert  Schlippenbach  kept  us  all  laughing,  and  when  presently 
we  were  joined  by  the  Hereditary  Count  Stolberg-Stolberg 
conversation  grew  very  animated  and  wit  and  laughter  reigned 


IO2  THE  YEARS   1795   AND   1796. 

at  our  table  to  a  degree  not  often  heard  within  these  sober 
walls,  I  should  imagine. 

On  my  return  here,  I  found  your  dear  kind  letter.  Surely, 
my  Annaliebe,  we  might  be  held  up  as  exemplary  corre- 
spondents, our  letters  follow  one  another  without  a  pause! 
Thanks,  dear  heart,  for  this  fresh  evidence  of  your  love.  You 
write  that  all  is  well  with  you  at  home — that  is  the  best  news 
you  could  give  me.  This  is  my  last  to  you  from  here.  To- 
morrow I  start  for  home  and  shall  soon  hold  you  in  my  arms 
again.  Kiss  our  Phillinchen  and  convey  my  best  remem- 
brances to  your  friend. 

Always  your  fondly  devoted 

WERNER. 

For  the  reader's  better  understanding,  I  may  here  add  a 
few  explanatory  remarks  on  certain  persons  mentioned  in  the 
foregoing  letters.  The  little  nephew,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
Philipp,  whom  my  great-grandfather  saw  at  Luderitz,  mar- 
ried little  Philippine  von  Alvensleben  in  1811  and  was  my 
•grandfather.  His  father  and  his  uncle  had  cast  lots  for  the  old 
family  estate  of  Luderitz,  whereby  the  latter,  Ludolf  Daniel, 
won,  my  grandfather  inheriting  two  other  estates,  Herzfelde 
and  Schoneberg. 

The  Cousin  Philipp  in  Berlin  was  the  Count  Alvensleben- 
Erxleben,  subsequently  so  well  known  as  Minister  of  State 
under  Frederick  William  III. 

Countess  von  der  Mark,  described  as  "  the  Lichtenau's  " 
only  daughter,  married  a  Count  Stolberg-Stolberg,  from 
whom  she  was  afterwards  divorced.  She  then  married  a  Herr 
von  Miakowski,  and,  after  his  death,  a  Monsieur  Thierry  in 
Paris. — The  son  of  Fraulein  von  Voss  and  Frederick  William 


FAMILY  DETAILS.  IO3 

II.  received  the  title  of  Count  Ingenheim,  and  his  son  married 
the  daughter  of  this  Madame  Thierry,  so  that  the  present 
line  of  Ingenheim — still  living  at  Reisewitz  and  Silesia — is  de- 
scended from  two  children  of  Frederick  William  II. 

The  Princess  Friederike  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  men- 
tioned in  the  letter  as  the  wife  of  Prince  Ludwig  of  Prussia, 
married,  after  his  death,  Prince  Solms-Braunfels,  and  later  on 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  afterwards  King  of  Hanover. 

There  is  nothing  worthy  of  special  remark  in  my  great- 
grandmother's  diary  for  the  next  few  months  except  that 
Cecile  wrote  a  letter  to  her  friend  the  Duchess  Edmee  in 
Paris. 

Then  on  November  8th  Annaliebe's  birthday  was  cele- 
brated with  great  rejoicing. 

On  this  occasion  she  writes: 

November  9,  1795. 

Oh,  great  and  Heavenly  Father!  I  feel  that  I  must  fall 
upon  my  knees  and  thank  Thee  out  of  a  full  heart  for  all  the 
happiness  Thou  hast  vouchsafed  to  me.  What  a  day  of 
heavenly  joys  lies  behind  me!  Far,  far  beyond  my  deserts 
have  I  bee»  blessed!  Oh,  my  Father,  how  happy  hast  Thou 
made  Thy  child — grant  that  I  too  may  bring  happiness  to 
those  I  love.  Teach  Thou  me  to  acknowledge  my  faults  and 
help  me  to  overcome  them!  My  temper  is  too  quick  and  hot; 
do  Thou  make  me  gentle  and  less  prone  to  anger. 

My  beloved  Werner  will  not  admit  these  faults  of  mine, 
but  I  know  well  in  my  heart  that  I  possess  them.  Make  me 
worthy  of  the  blessings  my  husband  showers  upon  me! 

And  what  rich  gifts  have  poured  in  upon  me  from  every 
side  for  my  birthday!  From  Werner  a  lovely  blue  silk  gown 


104  THE  YEARS  1795   AND   1796. 

and  the  exquisite  filigree  necklace  that  belonged  to  his  mother. 
Uncle  Briest  presented  me  with  a  wonderful  bureau-forte- 
piano  that  looks  for  all  the  world  like  a  secretaire,  so  that  no- 
body guesses  its  melodious  contents.  It  is  just  what  I  want, 
for  the  voice  of  my  dear  old  spinet  has  grown  sadly  thin  and 
weak.  Cecile's  gift  pleased  me  beyond  measure.  She  be- 
stowed upon  me  one  of  her  most  cherished  relics,  the  beautiful 
piece  of  embroidery  she  once  worked  in  company  with  the 
Princess  de  Lamballe,  with  the  initials  of  the  two  friends — 
M.  L.  and  C. — entwined  together  in  a  monogram.  How  sweet 
of  her  to  have  this  lovely  work  made  up  as  a  little  fire-screen 
— a  thing  I  had  long  wished  for.  I  shall  always  take  the  great- 
est care  of  it.* 

Dear  old  Aunt  Kroecher  and  the  good  pastors  gave  me  a 
beautiful  vase  full  of  flowers — indeed  flowers  were  everywhere, 
in  pots  upon  the  table  and  the  window-sills,  in  nosegays  and 
wreaths — the  whole  air  was  full  of  their  delicious  freshness  and 
perfume.  But  sweetest  of  all  was  my  lovely  little  human  blos- 
som, my  darling  Phillinchen,  when  yesterday,  for  the  first 
time,  her  dewy  little  lips  shaped  themselves  to  say — "  My 
mama." 

Oh  great  and  merciful  Father,  greatly  hast  Thou  blessed 
me.  Continue  these  blessings  to  me,  is  my  earnest  prayer! 

*  This  fire-screen  is  in  my  possession  at  this  moment,  the  costly  em- 
broidery still  in  excellent  preservation.  The  frame  only  has  had  to  be 
renewed.  It  is  one  of  my  most  highly  prized  heirlooms. — Note  by  the 
Editor. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  STORY  OF  THE   QUEEN'S   NECKLACE. 

THE  summer  of  1796  passed  uneventfully  in  Kalbe  and 
the  notes  in  the  diary  are  few  and  far  between.  It  must  have 
been  an  extraordinarily  fruitful  year,  for  my  great-grand- 
mother writes  of  the  overflowing  abundance  of  the  harvest, 
and  that  her  husband  scarcely  knew  where  to  put  it  all — such 
a  harvest  as  had  not  been  known  within  the  memory  of  the 
oldest  inhabitants.  Further  on  she  says :  "  Werner  keeps 
telling  me  to  ask  for  something  in  commemoration  of  the 
splendid  harvest — but  what  is  left  for  me  to  wish  for  ?  My 
happiness  is  complete  and  sufficient  in  itself/' 

The  ladies  were  doubtless  left  much  to  their  own  society 
while  Annaliebe's  husband  was  thus  busily  employed,  and  ap- 
pear to  have  whiled  away  their  leisure  in  telling  one  another 
stories,  for  into  this  period  of  the  diary  falls  Cecile's  promised 
account  of  the  Scandal  of  the  Diamond  Necklace. 

September  21,  1796. 

It  has  rained  all  day.  My  dearest  Werner  was  busily  en- 
gaged at  the  farm  since  early  morning,  so  after  dinner  Cecile 
proposed  to  while  away  the  afternoon  by  fulfilling  her  prom- 
ise of  telling  me  the  story  of  the  Queen's  necklace. 

Accordingly  we  established  ourselves  in  my  cosy  little 

105 


106  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE, 

room,  and  Cecile  proceeded  to  relate  the  story  which  I  shall 
endeavour  to  set  down  as  much  as  possible  in  her  own  words. 

"  It  was  in  1784,  when  I  had  been  for  about  a  year  with 
the  Princess  de  Lamballe  at  the  Court  of  Versailles,  that  the 
affair  occurred  which  afterwards  proved  so  damaging  to  the 
Queen's  reputation,  although  the  unfortunate  lady  was  ab- 
solutely blameless  in  the  matter  and  only  learned  the  truth 
when  it  was  far  too  late  to  combat  the  intriguers.  No  one 
can  speak  with  better  authority  on  the  subject  than  myself,  as, 
unhappily,  I  was  implicated  in  the  judicial  enquiry  that  fol- 
lowed. 

"  In  order  that  you  may  the  better  understand  my  story 
I  must  go  back  to  the  year  1770,  when  Louis  Rene,  Prince 
de  Rohan-Guemenee,  at  that  time  Prince-Bishop  of  Stras- 
burg,  was  sent  as  ambassador  to  the  Court  of  Vienna  to  ar- 
range the  preliminaries  connected  with  the  betrothal  of  the 
Dauphin  and  the  Princess  Marie  Antoinette. 

"  Despite  his  ecclesiastical  position  the  great  Church  dig- 
nitary was  a  confirmed  libertine  and  many  were  the  stories 
in  circulation  of  his  amours  and  his  reckless  extravagance. 
His  mission  in  Vienna  naturally  brought  him  in  contact  with 
the  young  and  lovely  Archduchess,  and  the  story  goes — 
though  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  it — that  he  became 
so  violently  enamoured  of  her  that,  disregarding  the  object 
of  his  embassy,  he  sought  by  every  means  to  win  her  love 
for  himself.  So  far  did  his  folly  and  his  belief  in  his  own 
irresistible  qualities  lead  him,  that  he  is  reported  to  have* 
applied  to  the  Pope  to  be  relieved  of  his  ecclesiastical  charge 
and  for  a  dispensation  enabling  him  to  marry  the  Arch* 
duchess. 

"  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  actually  did  make  the  young  Prin- 


CARDINAL  ROHAN.  IO/ 

cess  a  violent  declaration  of  love  one  day,  when  he  was  so 
unlucky  as  to  be  surprised  by  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa; 
who,  they  say,  hotly  indignant  at  his  unwarrantable  boldness, 
heaped  him  with  contumely  and  insisted  on  his  immediate 
recall  to  Paris.  It  was  this  rejection  which  laid  the  founda1 
tion  of  his  hatred  against  my  poor  unhappy  Queen. 

"  When  Louis  XVI.  came  to  the  throne  Rohan  fell  into 
disfavour  and  was  banished  to  Strasburg,  but  the  good- 
natured  King  recalled  him  in  a  year  or  two  and  even  made 
him  Grand  Almoner  of  the  kingdom.  The  Queen,  however, 
never  forgave  him  his  former  presumption  and  invariably 
treated  him  with  marked  disdain,  wounding  the  man's  in- 
ordinate vanity  to  the  quick ;  till,  blinded  by  the  all-absorbing 
desire  to  win  Her  Majesty's  regard,  the  Prince-Bishop  al- 
lowed himself  to  become  the  tool  of  a  band  of  unscrupulous 
swindlers. 

"  There  lived  at  that  time  in  Paris  a  couple  of  adventurers, 
a  ci-devant  gendarme  and  his  sister  (though  I  think  the  re- 
lationship was  more  than  doubtful),  who  called  themselves 
Valois  and  claimed  to  be  descended  from  the  ancient  royal 
family  of  that  name.  This  worthy  couple  made  some  show  of 
position,  and  their  house  was  the  favourite  resort  of  those 
Illuminati  who  gathered  round  the  so-called  Count  Cagliostro 
— otherwise  Joseph  Balsamo — as  their  prophet. 

"  By  some  means  or  other,  Cardinal  Rohan  was  drawn 
into  this  set,  with  the  result  that  he  soon  stood  on  a  very 
intimate  footing  with  the  self-styled  '  Countess '  Lamotte- 
Valois,  whose  motive  herein  was  to  persuade  the  Cardinal  to 
introduce  her  at  Court  and  so  obtain  acknowledgement  of 
her  alleged  name  and  rank.  Being  himself  in  bad  odour  at 
Court,  Rohan  was  unable  to  gratify  this  wish  of  hers,  but 


108      THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLAC& 

when,  taking  advantage  one  day  of  his  tender  mood,  the 
Countess  persistently  returned  to  the  attack,  he  disclosed  to 
her  that  he  loved  the  Queen  with  a  consuming  passion  and 
would  give  his  life  to  win  her  favour.  On  this  avowal  the 
\voman  seems  to  have  based  her  shameless  intrigue. 

"  Her  first  step  was  to  assure  the  Cardinal  that  she  was  on 
intimate  terms  with  some  of  the  Court  ladies,  mentioning  me 
— who  had  never  set  eyes  on  her — in  particular,  and  showing 
herself  frequently  on  the  stairs  and  in  the  corridors  of  the 
Palace  at  Versailles  to  give  an  appearance  of  truth  to  the 
statement. 

"  It  happened  that  just  at  that  time  the  Court  jewellers 
Bohemer  and  Bassange  were  offering  a  wonderful  diamond 
necklace  for  sale.  The  Queen  saw  it  and  very  much  wished 
to  possess  it,  but  on  learning  that  the  price  was  over  two  mil- 
lion francs  she  at  once  abandoned  the  idea. 

"  The  Lamotte  now  set  herself  to  persuading  the  Cardinal 
that  the  Queen  was  ardently  in  love  with  him — so  Cagliostro 
had  discovered  in  seance  with  his  familiar  spirits — and  that  her 
coldness  was  merely  a  cloak  to  hide  her  all  too  violent  flame. 
Let  him  seize  this  opportunity  for  breaking  down  the  barrier 
of  coyness,  let  him  lay  the  famous  necklace  at  his  idol's  feet — 
she  even  engaged  to  bring  about  a  meeting  between  him  and 
the  Queen  on  some  evening  to  be  decided  on  later. 

"  And  this  brings  me  to  the  crowning  villainy  of  this  gang 
of  reprobates. 

"It  was  the  I4th  of  July,  1784,  and  a  marvellous  summer 
evening;  a  well-nigh  tropical  atmosphere  lay  over  the  Park  of 
Versailles  and  the  Petit  Trianon,  where  we  had  been  taking 
tea  in  Her  Majesty's  apartments,  and  afterwards  went  out  to 
breathe  the  freshness  under  the  portico.  Besides  the  Queen 


THE  INTRIGUE  IN  THE  PARK  OF  VERSAILLES.          109 

there  were  the  Princess  de  Lamballe,  Mesdemoiselles  de 
Noailles,  de  Laval,  and  myself.  The  stars  shone  in  dazzling 
brilliance,  but  in  the  bosquets  and  the  broad  avenues  of  the 
Park  the  shades  of  evening  were  already  deep. 

"  Presently  the  Queen  left  us  in  order,  as  was  her  frequent 
custom,  to  take  a  little  exercise  before  retiring.  She  strolled 
in  the  direction  of  one  of  the  avenues,  and  we  ladies  remained 
beneath  the  portico  wm'le  Mademoiselle  de  Laval  went  to  fetch 
lights ;  the  Queen  allowing  no  lacqueys  at  the  Trianon.  We 
then  seated  ourselves  round  a  table  and  chatted  about  the 
events  of  the  day. 

"  Suddenly  a  shrill  scream  broke  the  stillness,  and  as  we 
started  up  and  ran  in  the  direction  from  whence  it  came,  the 
Queen  rushed  breathless  towards  us.  When  she  came  within 
the  region  of  the  light,  we  noticed  that  her  beautiful  face  was 
ghastly  pale  and  her  eyes  strangely  fixed  and  glassy.  My 
Princess  asked  in  terrified  solicitude  if  she  felt  ill,  whereupon 
she  replied,  in  a  voice  we  hardly  recognised,  that  she  had  just 
encountered  an  apparition.  *  An  apparition?  '  we  cried.  '  Yes, 
I  can  call  it  by  no  other  name/  she  gasped.  '  A  figure  glided 
past  me,  so  exactly  resembling  myself  in  every  particular — 
even  down  to  the  dress  I  am  wearing — that  I  could  not  but 
take  it  for  my  wraith  (mon  fantome).  When,  startled  almost 
out  of  my  senses,  I  called  to  the  apparition,  it  vanished  among 
the  trees/ 

"  Such  evidences  of  terror  on  the  part  of  our  Royal  mistress, 
whom  we  had  always  known  as  the  most  fearless  of  beings, 
alarmed  us  beyond  measure.  Snatching  up  the  lights  we 
hastened  to  the  spot  she  described  and  thoroughly  scoured  the 
whole  neighbourhood.  Not  a  sign  of  anything  could  we  dis- 


XIO  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

cover,  only  Adelaide  said  she  heard  a  sound  as  of  someone 
moving  through  the  thicket  in  the  distance. 

"The  occurrence  was  long  the  subject  of  conversation  be- 
tween us,  but  it  presently  faded  from  our  minds,  and  the  Queen 
herself  came  at  last  to  believe  that  she  had  been  the  victim  of 
a  delusion.  We  were  destined  to  remember  it  in  the  time  to 
come. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  subsequent  trial,  it  transpired  that 
the  Lamotte  had  chosen  that  evening  for  the  consummation  of 
her  vile  scheme.  It  seems  she  had  come  across  an  infamous 
creature  called  Oliva,  a  figurante  at  one  of  the  low  theatres, 
who  bore  a  most  striking  resemblance  to  the  Queen.  Having 
apprised  the  Cardinal  of  the  promised  rendezvous,  she  dressed 
this  woman  in  clothes  such  as  the  Queen  was  in  the  habit  of 
wearing  and  secreted  her  in  a  shrubbery  close  to  the  Petit 
Trianon.  Here  the  Cardinal  found  her,  and  never  doubting 
that  she  was  Marie  Antoinette,  fell  at  her  feet  and  clasping  her 
knees  declared  his  passion. 

"The  supposed  Queen  then  graciously  raised  him,  em- 
braced him,  and  addressing  him  in  endearing  terms,  expressed 
her  ardent  longing  to  possess  the  diamond  necklace.  In  the 
midst  of  these  tender  passages,  a  warning  cry  came  from 
Madame  Lamotte,  who  was  playing  sentinel  close  by.  Acting 
her  part  to  the  life,  Oliva  hurriedly  slipped  away,  promising 
the  Cardinal  to  meet  him  again  the  next  evening. 

"The  Lamotte  had  now  brought  the  Cardinal  to  the  de- 
sired point.  He  acquired  the  necklace  and  handed  it  over  to 
her  to  give  to  Marie  Antoinette.  But  no  sooner  had  the  wily 
person  secured  her  booty  than  she  passed  it  on  to  her  brother, 
who  incontinently  fled  with  it  to  England,  while  she  herself 


THE  CARDINAL'S  TRIAL.  Ill 

remained  with  insolent  audacity  in  Paris,  where  she  imagined 
herself  perfectly  secure  from  suspicion. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  next  six  months,  however,  the  jew- 
ellers applied  in  vain  to  the  Cardinal  for  payment,  till  at  last, 
driven  to  bay,  he  confessed  that  he  had  bought  it  in  the 
Queen's  name. 

"  The  King  and  Queen  now  heard  the  whole  story  from 
the  jewellers,  and  the  indignant  King  at  once  ordered  the  most 
searching  investigation.  Thus  it  was  that  I  too  became  im- 
plicated in  the  affair,  and  was  brought  before  the  Court  as 
having  received  the  jewels  from  Madame  Lamotte  to  be  given 
to  the  Queen.  It  was  terrible!  Happily  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
establishing  my  innocence,  for  on  the  day  mentioned  by  the 
vile  creature  I  had  not  been  in  Versailles  at  all,  but  with  my 
parents  in  Paris.  The  charge  against  me  consequently  fell  to 
the  ground;  indeed,  the  whole  nefarious  plot  presently  came 
to  light.  The  Lamotte  was  pronounced  guilty,  publicly 
scourged  and  then  incarcerated  in  the  Salpetriere. 

"  Nevertheless,  the  Cardinal  satisfied  his  base  desire  for 
revenge  by  saying,  when  he  was  under  examination,  that  '  he 
might  possibly  have  been  deceived  in  the  person  of  the  Queen  '; 
his  whole  demeanour  at  the  same  time  being  calculated  to  give 
both  the  Tribunal  and  the  public  the  impression  that  he  was 
concealing  the  truth  to  shield  the  Queen,  and  that  a  liaison 
actually  existed  between  them.  Accordingly  he  was  acquitted 
— a  flagrant  miscarriage  of  justice,  for  he  should,  at  least,  have 
been  punished  for  Use  majeste  in  thus  defaming  the  Queen. 
The  King  banished  him,  it  is  true,  and  had  Cagliostro  and  his 
precious  disciples  driven  from  the  kingdom. 

"  Nevertheless,  the  people  seized  upon  the  various  un- 
savoury details  of  this  trial,  which  lasted  nearly  a  whole  year, 


112  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

for  building  up  fresh  accusations  against  the  Queen.  That 
evening  at  the  Trianon  played  a  part  herein,  the  majority  assert- 
ing that  it  was  Marie  Antoinette  herself  who  then  met  the 
Cardinal,  and  that  the  story  of  the  double  was  a  mere  fiction 
to  divert  suspicion  from  the  real  culprit.  Unfortunately, 
colour  was  given  to  this  story  from  the  fact  that  Oliva  was 
nowhere  to  be  found,  her  friends  having  succeeded  in  getting 
her  out  of  the  country  so  that  she  should  not  be  produced  to 
give  evidence  at  the  trial. 

"This  calumny  therefore  became  a  fixed  idea  with  the 
people,  and  from  that  time  forth  all  manner  of  love  intrigues 
were  brought  against  the  unfortunate  Queen.  She  was  even 
accused  of  a  liaison  with  her  brother-in-law  of  Artois,  despite 
the  well-known  fact  that  he  was  most  happily  married. 

"  But  at  the  bottom  of  all  these  base  aspersions,  as  of  the 
Necklace  affair  itself,  was  the  vile  Philippe  "d'Orl cans — of  that 
the  Queen  and  we  ladies  were  unalterably  persuaded.  He  was 
intimately  associated  with  Cagliostro  and  his  band,  and  ini- 
tiated the  entire  plot  to  ruin  the  Queen's  reputation,  out  of 
spite  for  her  indignant  rejection  of  his  proposals. — I  hold  that 
man  capable  of  any  crime. 

"  Here  are  two  letters,"  continued  Cecile,  handing  them  to 
me,  "from  Marie  Antoinette  to  her  sister  Marie-Christine 
of  Sachsen-Teschen,  wife  of  the  Stadtholder  of  the  Nether-- 
lands,  in  which  the  Queen  gives  her  view  of  the  story.  They 
are  copies  of  the  originals  in  the  possession  of  the  Marquis  de 
Stainville,  who  vouches  for  their  accuracy.  The  complete  in- 
nocence of  the  sorely  tried  Royal  lady  is  unmistakable  from 
both  of  them. 


THE  QUEEN  TO  HER  SISTER.  113 

FIRST    LETTER. 

"  Chere  sceur! 

"  L'affaire  affreuse  du  collier  forme  toujours  la  conver- 
sation publique,  tout  le  monde  en  parle.  Tant  que  le  cardinal 
cherche  a  sauver  son  honneur,  il  n'y  reussira  pas ;  son  effron- 
terie  et  son  audace  ont  rencontrees  trop  d'obstacles,  tant  qu'ils 
sont  supportees. 

"  Votre  regne  m'assistera  j'en  suis  convaincue,  en  faisant 
la  recherche  de  la  femme  qui  a  joue  ce  role  dans  la  scene  du 
jardin  et  s'est  refugiee  chez  vous.  Donnez  les  plus  severes 
ordres  a  cet  egard,  je  t'en  prie.  Le  Dauphin  joue  a  mon  cote 
avec  ma  fille  et  ils  ont  se  portent  en  bonne  sante;  maintenant 
ils  ont  une  querelle  et  me  demandent,  que  je  sois  juge  entre 
eux — je  ne  quitterai  pas  done  les  tribunaux! 

"  Adieu,  chere  sceur,  je  t'embrasse, 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE. 

"  VERSAILLES,  samedi,  1785." 

[Translation.] 

"  Dear  Sister: 

"  The  dreadful  scandal  of  the  Diamond  Necklace  is  still 
the  talk  of  the  town,  it  is  in  everybody's  mouth.  Let  the 
Cardinal  try  as  he  will  to  save  his  reputation,  he  will  not 
succeed;  his  effrontery  and  hardihood  have  too  often  stum- 
bled against  obstacles,  no  matter  what  support  they  have  re- 
ceived. 

"  Your  government  will,  I  am  sure,  assist  me  in  the  search 
for  the  woman  who  personated  me  in  the  garden  scene  and 
then  fled  into  your  territory.  Give  the  strictest  injunctions 
in  this  matter,  I  entreat  you. 

"  The  Dauphin  is  playing  beside  me  with  his  sister ;  both 


114  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

are  in  good  health.  Now  they  are  quarrelling  and  want  me 
to  be  judge  between  them — it  seems  that  I  am  never  to  be 
free  of  the  law! 

"  Adieu,  dear  sister.    I  embrace  you. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE. 

"  VERSAILLES,  Saturday,  1785." 


SECOND   LETTER. 

"  VERSAILLES,  13  juin  1785. 

"  Chere  Marie  Christine! 

"Je  suis  heureuse,  chere  soeur,  que  tu  sois  maintenant 
mieux  informee  de  la  chose  terrible.  Tu  te  souvenirs  de  Tau- 
dace  et  de  reffronterie  de  Rohan,  qu'il  montra  a  Vienne  et 
de  Tirreverence  incroyable  en  passant  en  costume  de  chasse 
par  une  procession  de  Fete-Dieu;  lui,  le  dignitaire  de  1'eglise. 
— Au  proces  il  a  montre  la  meme  effronterie.  II  m'a  brave 
meme  a  presence  du  roi.  Get  homme  est  d'une  morale  cor- 
rompue,  et  la  Lamotte  entretenait  une  liaison  concfamnable 
avec  lui.  Dans  toute  Taffaire  il  y  a  un  rets  d'intrigues  qui 
eehappe  le  tribunal.  Des  memoires  et  refutations  suivent  les 
uns  aux  autres  et  on  ne  voit  pas  plus  clair.  Un  accomode- 
ment  raisonnable  est  impossible.  L'infame  est  alle  jusqu'au 
point  d'affirmer  qu'il  avait  eu  un  rendezvous  avec  moi  dans  le 
jardin  a  Versailles  et  qu'il  avait  re<;u  la  mon  consentement 
formel  pour  1'achat  du  collier. 

"  L'audace  de  cette  deposition  a  pousse  le  roi  a  bout  et 
m'aurait  rendue  malade,  s'il  ne  me  fallait  pas  combattre  et 
epargner  toutes  me  forces,  pour  tenir  tete  a  des  orages  tant 
cruels.  Je  n'ai  pas  encore  vu  les  lettres  de  change,  je  les  ai 


THE  QUEEN'S  SECOND  LETTER  TO  HER  SISTER.       11$ 

exigees;   il  sont  absurdes  et  portent  la  signature  mal  contre- 
faite:   Marie  Antoinette  de  France. 

"  Le  roi,  moi,  monsieur  de  Breteuil,  tout  le  monde  se  de- 
mande,  comment  un  grand  aumonier,  un  homme,  qui  autre- 
ment  ne  passait  pour  un  imbecile,  pouvait  etre  ebloui  jusqu'a 
un  tel  degre.  Aussi  ne  peut  on  pas  avoir  la  conviction,  qu'il 
soit  sincere  a  cet  egard.  Je  me  reproche,  que  j'ai  attribue 
trop  de  consideration  a  cette  affaire. 

"  Torget,  qui  est  Tavocat  du  cardinal,  travaille,  comme  on 
dit,  a  un  memorial ;  c'est  un  homme  honnete,  mais  il  pousse 
son  metier  et  Dieu  sait,  quels  mensonges  il  nous  fera  accroire. 
Le  charlatan  Cagliostro  a  aussi  public  un  memoire  et  de 
meme  un  citoyen  d' Arras,  c'est  a  present  le  sujet  de  toute 
conversation.  Le  roi  le  croit  impossible,  que  la  verite  ne  soit 
pas  decouverte. 

"  Adieu,  chere  soeur,  ton  amitie  est  ma  consolation ;  j'y 
pense,  que  ton  sang,  qui  roule  dans  mes  veines  est  celui  de 
la  reine  Marie  Therese.  Notre  mere  est  toujours  presente 
devant  mes  yeux  tu  n'apprendras  rien  ce  qui  ne  serait  pas 
digne  d'elle. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 


[Translation.] 

"Dear  Marie  Christine: 

"  I  rejoice,  my  dear  sister,  that  you  are  now  more  fully 
acquainted  with  the  details  of  this  abominable  affair.  You 
remember  Rohan's  presumption  and  effrontery  that  time  in 
Vienna  and  how  he  had  the  incredible  irreverence  to  join  a 
Corpus  Christi  procession  wearing  a  hunting-dress — he,  a 


Ii6  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

high  dignitary  of  the  Church!  During  the  trial  he  has  dis- 
played the  same  brazen  front,  insolently  defying  me  in  pres- 
ence of  the  King.  He  is  a  man  of  thoroughly  corrupt  morals 
and  entertained  a  guilty  liaison  with  the  woman  Lamotte. 
Underlying  the  whole  business  is  a  network  of  intrigue  which 
escapes  the  judges.  Memorials  and  refutations  follow  on  one 
another's  heels,  but  throw  no  light  upon  the  subject.  Any 
reasonable  adjustment  of  the  matter  is  out  of  the  question; 
the  wretch  has  gone  so  far  as  to  affirm  positively  that  he  had 
a  rendezvous  with  me  in  the  garden  at  Versailles  during 
which  he  received  my  formal  consent  to  the  purchase  of  the 
necklace. 

"  The  audacity  of  this  assertion  drove  the  King  to  fury 
and  would  have  made  me  ill  had  I  not  felt  the  urgent  neces- 
sity of  reserving  all  my  strength  if  I  were  to  hold  my  own 
against  these  cruel  onslaughts.  I  had  not  yet  seen  the  bills 
of  exchange,  so  demanded  their  production.  They  are  the 
clumsiest  of  frauds  and  bear  the  signature  '  Marie  Antoinette 
de  France '  in  a  badly  simulated  hand. 

"  The  King  and  I,  Monsieur  de  Breteuil — in  fact  every- 
body is  asking  how  a  man  in  his  position  and,  for  the  rest, 
of  no  mean  intelligence  can  have  allowed  himself  to  be  so 
grossly  duped.  It  is  imposible  to  believe  him  sincere  on  this 
point.  I  regret  having  wasted  so  much  consideration  on  this 
affair. 

"  Torget,  the  Cardinal's  advocate,  is  reported  to  be  en- 
gaged on  a  memorial;  he  is  an  honest  man,  but — it  is  his 
business,  after  all,  and  Heaven  alone  knows  what  lies  he  will 
ask  us  to  swallow.  The  charlatan  Cagliostro,  too,  has  pub- 
lished a  memorial,  as  has  a  citizen  of  Arras — it  is  the  one 
subject  of  conversation  at  present.  The  King  deems  it  im- 


ANNALIEBE'S  COMMENT.  II? 

possible  that  the  truth  should  not  eventually  be  brought  to 
light. 

"Adieu,  dear  sister,  your  friendship  is  my  great  consola- 
tion. Our  mother  is  ever  present  to  me,  and  I  do  not  forget 
that  the  blood  of  Maria  Theresa  flows  in  your  veins  and  in 
mine.  You  shall  never  hear  anything  of  me  unworthy  the 
daughter  of  such  a  mother. 

"  MARIE  ANTOINETTE." 

Surely  it  is  enough  to  make  one  shed  tears  to  read  these 
frank  and  single-hearted  letters  from  the  hapless  victim  of  a 
cruel  plot.  What  an  overwhelming  amount  of  sorrow  is 
often  contained  in  one  person's  life !  One  cannot  but  wonder 
what  judgment  will  be  passed  in  after  days  on  this  unfor- 
tunate Queen.  Will  God  never  let  the  whole  truth  of  this 
miserable  intrigue  be  known? 

During  the  winter  that  followed,  the  Alvenslebens  seem 
to  have  been  well-nigh  chained  to  the  house  by  the  cold,  which 
was  so  severe  as  to  preclude  all  possibility  of  visiting  or  receiv- 
ing even  their  near  neighbours.  Annaliebe  writes  in  Novem- 
ber already  of  twenty  degrees  of  cold,  and  complains  of  the 
badly  constructed  stoves  which  devoured  whole  forests  of 
wood. 

It  must  have  been  about  this  time  that  Cecile  carried  out 
her  intention  of  writing  to  her  friend  the  Duchess  Edmee  in 
Paris ;  at  least,  so  the  following  letter  among  my  great-grand- 
mother's papers  would  lead  one  to  conclude: 


Il8      THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

"  PARIS,  Faubourg  St.  Germain, 
The  3d  Frimaire,  Year  VII. 

"  My  sweetest,  best-beloved  Cecile: 

"  Words  cannot  express  my  joy  and  delight  at  receiving 
your  dear  letter.  Why,  it  was  as  good  as  hearing  that  you  had 
risen  from  the  dead!  To  think  that  you  are  alive,  sweetheart, 
that  God  has  preserved  you  to  me!  I  mourned  you  with  many 
bitter  tears,  for,  hearing  no  tidings  of  you,  I  had  perforce  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  you  had  fallen  a  victim  to  those 
butchers.  And  so  you  were  saved  and  found  a  refuge  in  Prus- 
sia? Fancy,  cherie,  my  being  quite  near  you  and  never  know- 
ing it!  For  two  years  I  lived  in  Gotha  with  some  dear  kind 
people  and  often  thought  of  you  while  there.  What  an  endless 
pity  that  I  had  no  knowledge  of  your  whereabouts! 

"  I  have  been  back  here  a  year  now,  living  in  my  own 
house  and  in  possession  of  all  my  former  estates.  I  have  re- 
opened my  Salons  and  you  would  stare  in  astonishment  at  the 
company  that  assembles  there — almost  amien  regime,  for  there 
are  a  good  many  old  friends  among  them. 

"  So  you  heard  through  the  Marquise  de  Navaillac  that  it 
was  through  Barras  I  obtained  restitution  of  my  property? 
You  remember  Monsieur  le  Vicomte,  a  kind  of  cousin  of 
mine?  He  is  an  extraordinary  creature;  a  compound  of  un- 
utterable baseness  and  a  few  good  qualities.  What  has  he  not 
been  in  his  time !  A  noble  by  birth  and  related  to  some  of  the 
first  families,  such  as  the  Pontave  and  the  Castellane,  he  was 
in  turn  officer,  Republican,  Jacobin,  and  at  last  Terrorist.  And 
now  having  reached  the  summit  of  power,  he  is  once  more  a 
Moderate — a  complete  weathercock,  as  you  perceive,  turning 
with  every  wind  that  blows.  Decidedly  his  most  meritorious 
action  was  in  rendering  that  tiger-cat  Robespierre  harm- 


LETTER  FROM  THE  DUCHESS  EDMEE.  119 

less.  He  lives  in  the  Palais  de  Luxembourg  now,  and  what 
with  his  millions  and  his  dazzling  fetes  gives  much  food  for 
talk.  He  is  the  greatest  egoist  in  the  world. 

"  A  few  good  qualities,  however,  he  undeniably  has.  He  is 
faithful  to  old  friends  and  has  helped  others  besides  myself. 
They  say  too  that  he  is  kind  to  his  wife,  a  gentle,  unassuming 
creature  of  provincial  origin.  He  does  not  have  her  in  Paris, 
bien  compris,  because  of  his  numerous  amours. 

"  He  did  me  good  service  by  advancing  me  a  sum  of  money 
to  purchase  Assignats,  for  the  face  value  of  which  the  gov- 
ernment allowed  me  to  buy  back  my  Palace  and  my  estates. 
Enfin,  I  find  myself  quite  comfortable  here. 

"  You  write,  chere  petite,  that  you  feel  yourself  quite  at 
home  in  Germany — but  do  you  never  long  to  see  your  own 
country  again?  Come  back  to  us  and  I  will  see  that  you  too 
are  reinstated  in  your  possessions. — But  you  must  make  haste, 
for  I  fear  me  matters  are  going  to  be  serious  ere  long.  The 
misery  of  the  people  increases  day  by  day,  and  I  cannot  think 
this  Directorate  can  hold  out  much  longer. 

"  There  is  one  man  to  whom  they  all  look  for  salvation, 
and  that  is  General  Buonaparte,  whose  fame  has  doubtless 
reached  you  too.  The  millions  he  acquired  in  Italy  alone  pre- 
serve the  State  from  bankruptcy.  Possible  that  he  is  the  Man 
of  the  Future,  but,  nevertheless,  I  am  afraid  no  change  of  gov- 
ernment can  be  effected  here  without  much  bloodshed  and  a 
world  of  trouble  of  every  description.  If,  therefore,  sweetest, 
you  cannot  come  at  once,  better  stay  where  you  are  till 
the  crisis  is  over.  I  will  write  you  frequently  and  keep  you 
au  courant  of  events.  I  daresay  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you 
more  information  presently  of  this  enigmatical  Corsican.  I 
may  as  well  tell  you  at  once  that  I  am  very  much  interested 


120  THE  STORY  OF  THE  QUEEN'S  NECKLACE. 

in  the  valiant  General,  who  has,  as  yet,  been  accompanied  by 
the  most  unprecedented  success  in  all  his  enterprises. 

"Answer  me  soon  and  I  will  write  quickly  in  return. 
Though  I  may  not  have  the  joy  of  embracing  you  very  soon, 
our  intercourse  must  not  be  interrupted.  I  can  only  hope 
that  this  distressing  period  of  indecision  may  soon  pass.  My 
compliments  to  your — as  you  tell  me — so  charming  friend. 
Take  the  utmost  care  of  yourself.  Adieu,  sweetheart,  love  me 
as  I  love  you. 

"Always  your  devoted 

"  EDMEE." 

The  correspondence  between  Cecile  and  the  Duchess  ap- 
pears to  have  been  very  brisk  during  the  next  year  or  two,  for, 
although  there  are  but  two  more  original  letters  from  her 
among  my  great-grandmother's  documents,  frequent  allusions 
in  the  diary  lead  one  to  conclude  that  they  often  wrote  to  each 
other.  These  remarks  bear  mostly  upon  Bonaparte  and  his 
family  and  give  the  impression  of  having  been  written  down 
from  some  account  of  the  Baroness  that  Annaliebe  might  the 
better  remember  them.  As  they  often  refer  to  hitherto  little- 
known  circumstances  in  Napoleon's  life,  I  will  quote  them  as 
occasion  offers. 


CHAPTER   X. 
THE  YEARS   1797   AND    1798. 

IN  the  summer  of  1797  we  find  Annaliebe  and  her  friend 
under  Uncle  Briest's  escort  in  Heligoland,  whither  my  great- 
grandfather had  sent  them  by  the  old  family  doctor's  advice. 
Frau  von  Alvensleben  had  evidently  been  suffering  from  the 
effects  of  several  severe  colds,  though  she  does  not  mention 
this,  and  Dr.  Nikolai  considered  that  the  sea-bathing  would 
be  very  beneficial  both  to  her  and  Cecile's  nerves.  Accord- 
ingly, with  old  Herr  von  Briest  as  courier,  they  set  out  for  a 
six  weeks'  visit  to  the  island,  Werner  being  in  all  probability 
detained  at  home  by  the  harvest. 

There  was  a  constant  interchange  of  letters  between  hus- 
band and  wife,  and  Uncle  Briest  also  contributes  occasional 
highly  original  epistles. 

The  visit,  which  appears  to  have  done  for  Annaliebe  all 
the  good  doctor  hoped  for,  lasted  till  the  beginning  of  August, 
when  her  husband  came  to  conduct  the  party  home. 

The  long-promised  journey  to  Berlin  was  to  have  taken 
place  that  winter,  but  the  death  of  King  Frederick  William 
II.  upset  this  plan,  and  the  presentation  at  Court  was  put  off 
till  the  following  year. 

During  the  intervening  time  there  is  little  of  any  moment 
to  be  recorded;  the  family  pursued  the  even,  kindly  tenor  of 

121 


122  THE  YEARS   1797  AND   1798. 

its  way  and  the  two  ladies  devoted  themselves  to  the  pleasant 
task  of  bringing  up  little  Phillinchen  in  the  way  she  should  go. 
In  February  of  the  following  year  came  another  letter  from 
the  Duchess: 

PARIS,  10  Pluviose,  1798. 

Faubourg  St.  Germain. 

It  is  quite  a  long  time  since  you  heard  from  me,  my  dear- 
est Cecile.  Many  thanks  for  your  delightful  letter  from  the 
Island  where  you  stayed  with  your  friend.  I  often  think  of 
you  and  long  to  have  you  near  me;  but,  believe  me,  my  dear, 
you  do  well  to  stay  away  from  Paris  just  now,  for  things  are 
still  very  far  from  being  settled.  Within  the  last  few  months 
we  had  another  Revolution,  only  this  time  it  started  from 
above  instead  of  below. 

As  I  wrote  you  already,  the  financial  affairs  of  the  govern- 
ment were  in  a  desperate  condition ;  in  fact,  nothing  less  than 
complete  bankruptcy  wai  anticipated.  Then  came  the  i8th 
Fructidor,  on  which  day  the  Directory,  with  Barras  at  their 
head,  put  an  end  to  the  existing  state  of  things  and,  assisted 
by  Bonaparte  and  his  soldiers,  took  the  whole  controlling 
power  into  their  own  hands.  How  that  all  came  about  I  am 
not  in  a  position  to  say.  I  only  know  that  on  the  morning 
of  the  iQth  a  proclamation  appeared  at  the  street  corners  de- 
claring that  the  Directory  had  come  upon  a  Royalist  con- 
spiracy set  in  motion  by  Pichegru,  Barthelemy,  and  others,  all 
of  whom  had  been  arrested. 

No  one  seemed  more  delighted  at  this  turn  of  affairs  than 
Cousin  Barras.  When,  a  day  or  two  after  the  coup  d'etat,  he 
came  to  see  me,  he  rubbed  his  hands  gleefully  and  said  that 
now  his  time  had  come  at  last! — He  is  at  the  head  of  the 


SECOND  LETTER  FROM  THE  DUCHESS.  123 

government  and,  I  suppose,  the  most  powerful  member  of  the 
Directory.  He  lives  on  a  scale  of  fabulous  extravagance,  dis- 
playing an  almost  regal  splendour,  indeed  his  establishment 
is  said  to  be  considerably  more  costly  than  any  of  the  Royal 
ones  in  the  old  days. 

General  Bonaparte  then  left  to  join  the  Army  in  Italy, 
whence  he  returned  three  weeks  ago  with  many  trophies  of 
his  conquests.  He  was  received  with  frenzied  enthusiasm  by 
the  people,  who  gave  a  great  fete  in  his  honour  at  the  Luxem- 
bourg and  did  homage  to  him  as  to  a  demi-god — a  reception, 
in  fact,  that  had  all  the  signs  of  a  counter-demonstration 
against  the  Directory. 

Did  the  great  General,  I  wonder,  come  back  with  the  in- 
tention of  taking  the  reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands? 
Who  shall  say?  It  may  well  be,  however,  that  he  does  not 
think  the  time  is  yet  ripe. 

He  has  left  Paris  again  now,  but  whether  with  the  object 
of  joining  the  Army  in  Piedmont  or  of  going  to  Brest — where 
they  say  an  army  is  being  collected  against  England — I  could 
not  ascertain. 

You  ask  for  more  personal  details  of  this  Bonaparte. 
That,  mon  ange,  is  no  easy  matter,  for  he  is  so  enveloped  in 
mystery  and  legend  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  where 
fiction  left  off  and  truth  began.  I  can  only  tell  you  the  stories 
that  are  current  about  him  latterly  in  our  own  circle  to  which, 
since  his  marriage  with  the  widow  of  the  Marquis  de  Beau- 
harnais,  he  now  belongs  to  a  certain  extent.  More  than  this 
I  do  not  know  myself.  Of  course  you  remember  the  lovely 
Creole,  Josephine  Tacher  de  la  Pragerie,  about  whom  there 
used  to  be  a  good  deal  of  talk?  She  is  now  Madame  Bona- 
parte, 


124  THE  YEARS   1797  AND   1798. 

(There  follows  an  account  of  Bonaparte's  family  history  and 
his  native  island,  offering,  however,  no  special  interest;  but 
further  on  the  Duchess  relates  a  few  incidents  of  his  school- 
life  at  Brienne  which  may  not  be  so  generally  known.) 

At  Madame  de  Montesson's  a  little  while  ago,  Baron  Leon 
Laurier,  who  was  at  Brienne  with  Bonaparte,  was  telling  us 
stories  about  him.  He  said  he  was  almost  the  only  one 
among  the  cadets  with  whom  the  young  Corsican  had  frater- 
nised. Madame  de  Luys  asked  how  Bonaparte  came  by  his 
singular  Christian  name,  whereupon  Laurier  told  us  an  amus- 
ing incident  in  connection  therewith. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  confirmation  service  the  officiating 
bishop  asked  the  young  Corsican  his  name.  '  Napoleon/ 
answers  my  friend  with  an  assurance  in  startling  contrast  to 
the  nervousness  displayed  by  the  rest  of  us.  '  What  did  you 
say  ? '  the  bishop  asked  again,  and  Bonaparte  repeated  im- 
patiently '  Napoleon.'  The  bishop  turned  in  surprise  to  the 
priest  at  his  side — '  Napoleon?  There  is  no  saint  of  that 
name  in  the  calendar.'  'Parbleu!'  cried  the  cadet,  'I  dare- 
say not — it  is  a  Corsican  saint ! ' 

"  We  got  up  some  fireworks  one  evening,"  resumed  the 
Baron,  "  and  some  of  the  boys  damaged  Bonaparte's  garden- 
plot  in  which  he  took  a  great  pride ;  then  and  there  he  rated 
them  in  such  a  tone  of  imperious  authority  that  they  were  all 
constrained  to  offer  humble  apologies.  I  was  standing  close 
by  and  said  in  astonishment  to  my  schoolfellow  Dijon,  '  Does 
he  not  seem  born  to  command? '  " 

Presently  Madame  de  Montesson  asked  who  had  first 
drawn  attention  to  the  young  soldier,  and  Laurier  answered 
that  we  had  Barras  to  thank  for  that.  It  was  at  the  siege  of 
Toulon  and  a  deputy  ordered  the  young  artillery  officer  to 


ANECDOTES  OF  BONAPARTE.  12$ 

change  the  position  of  his  cannons.  "Be  good  enough  to  at- 
tend to  your  own  business  as  '  representant/ "  came  the 
brusque  reply,  "  and  allow  me  to  manage  mine  as  artillerist. 
That  battery  stays  where  it  is  and  I  will  answer  with  my  head 
for  its  success !  "  From  that  hour  Barras  took  him  under 
his  protection  and  has  ever  retained  a  great  regard  for  Bona- 
parte, who  reminds  him  in  appearance  of  his  friend  Marat. 
It  was  Barras  who  afterwards  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the 
Army  in  Italy. 

On  another  evening  the  Baron  read  us  a  copy  of  the  gen- 
eral orders  issued  by  Bonaparte  on  taking  command  of  the 
forces  in  Italy.  I  give  it  you  here,  petite,  as  it  seems  to  me 
to  sum  up  the  whole  character  of  this  remarkable  man : 

Promettez-moi  de  m'obeir  aveuglement  et  ej  vous  garan- 
tis,  victoire  et  tresors.  Cest  1'union  qui  fait  la  force.  Plus 
vous  me  respectez,  plus  vous  vous  ferez  respecter.  II  faut  une 
tete  a  un  corps  bien  organise.  Si  vous  croyez  qu'il  y  ait  par- 
moi,  vous  n'avez  qu'a  me  le  designer,  et  je  serai  le  premier 
mis  vous  quelqu'un  plus  en  etait  de  vous  commander  que 
a  executer  ses  ordres.  Dans  le  cas  contraire  soumettez-vous 
a  tout  et  comptez  sur  ma  reconnaissance.  Persuadez  bien  a 
vos  officiers,  que  1'obeissance  a  la  guerre  passe  avant  tout, 
meme  avant  la  bravoure. 

N.  BUONAPARTE. 

[Translation.] 

Promise  to  obey  me  blindly  and  I  guarantee  to  you  vic- 
tory and  treasure.  Union  is  strength.  The  more  you  respect, 
me,  the  more  will  you  make  yourselves  respected.  fA  well 


126  THE  YEARS   1797   AND   1798. 

organised  body  requires  a  head.  If  you  think  there  is  a  man 
among  you  better  fitted  to  command  than  myself,  point  him 
out  to  me,  and  I  shall  be  the  first  to  execute  his  orders.  If 
such  be  not  the  case,  then  submit  to  my  judgment  in  every- 
thing and  you  may  count  on  my  gratitude.  Instil  it  thor- 
oughly into  your  officers  that  in  war  obedience  counts  before 
every  other  quality — even  before  bravery. 

N.   BUONAPARTE. 

That  is  now  about  all  I  have  heard  about  the  famous  Gen- 
eral. Doubtless  I  shall  be  able  to  tell  you  more  presently. 

But  I  have  still  to  answer  your  questions  regarding  the 
Paris  of  to-day  and  more  especially  the  reigning  Modes.  Do 
you  know,  cherie,  it  is  really  difficult  to  combine  decency  and 
fashion  at  the  present  moment?  I  assure  you  that  some  of  the 
women  leave  positively  nothing  to  the  imagination.  The  craze 
for  the  so-called  Neo-Greek  costume,  which  has  been  in  favour 
since  the  Revolution,  demands  that  every  line  of  the  female 
form  should  be  in  evidence  and  lays  stress  on  much  that  were 
better  concealed.  In  point  of  fact,  the  mode  discloses  more 
than  it  hides.  To  me  it  is  all  quite  disgusting. 

I  enclose  you  one  or  two  fashion  plates  from  which  you 
can  judge  of  this  for  yourself.  I  daresay  it  will  be  some  time 
before  this  style  is  imitated  in  Germany.  But,  sooner  or  later, 
your  Court  is  certain  to  adopt  it.  They  tell  the  most  extraor- 
dinary stories  here  of  the  Prussian  Court. 

The  Bishop  of  Londonderry  was  at  Madame  de  Montes- 
son's  lately  on  his  way  to  Italy.  He  told  us  amazing  things 
of  your  Royal  residence,  and  spoke  enthusiastically  of  the 
Countess  Lichtenau — he  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  himeslf,  the 
old  imbecile!  The  Chevalier  de  Saxe  was  there  on  the  same 


GOSSIP.  127 

evening,  and  the  two  nearly  came  to  blows  when  the  Chevalier 
boasted  of  the  lady's  favour. 

Have  I  gossiped  enough  with  you  now,  petite?  You  will,  I 
trust,  give  me  as  many  details  of  yourself  and  your  doings  in 
your  foreign  home.  Remember  me  to  your  friend  with  the 
singular  name.  I  think  we  are  on  the  eve  of  tremendous 
events.  I  will  write  as  soon  as  there  is  anything  fresh.  How 
I  wish  I  had  you  here! 

Toute  a  toi, 

EDME'E. 


CHAPTER   XL 
EVENTS   OF  1798  TO    1800. 

IN  the  middle  of  1798  the  long  talked  of  visit  of  the  Al- 
venslebens  and  Cecile  to  Berlin  at  last  took  place.  Adjutant- 
General  von  Kockeritz  had  evidently  sent  them  an  invitation 
in  February  which  he  repeated  in  July,  and  my  great-grand- 
parents decided  to  take  the  opportunity  of  the  King's  birth- 
day on  the  3d  of  August,  on  which  date  the  Court  went  out  of 
mourning,  for  presenting  themselves  to  the  new  sovereign. 
Many  Altmark  families  must  have  adopted  the  same  plan,  for 
Annaliebe  remarks  in  her  diary:  "I  expect  there  will  be  at 
least  twenty  von  Alvenslebens  in  Berlin  at  the  same  time,  not 
counting  other  relatives.  How  shall  I  ever  remember  their 
names?  We  are  looking  forward  eagerly  to  our  visit  to  Ber- 
lin. I  have  only  been  there  twice  and  know  very  little  about 
it  and  Cecile  is  much  excited  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  some- 
thing of  a  foreign  capital.  I  had  quite  a  business  to  persuade 
the  dear  soul  to  make  some  change  in  her  wardrobe,  for  of 
course  she  could  not  go  to  Court  in  the  mourning  garments 
she  has  never  laid  aside  since  she  came  to  us.  At  last,  how- 
ever, she  yielded  to  my  entreaties  and  a  beautiful  costume  was 
procured  of  deep  blue  gauze  worked  with  silver  leaves,  '  a 
Tame  d'argent/  as  it  is  called.  A  gold  fillet  will  be  woven  in 
her  hair,  and  I  am  sure  she  will  look  lovely.  For  myself,  I  was 

128 


THE  ALVENSLEBENS  AND  CECILE  AT  COURT.  129 

the  lucky  recipient  of  a  perfectly  delicieusc  robe  of  white  silk. 
Unfortunately  it  is  cut  very  low,  but  I  have  had  the  neck  partly 
filled  up  with  tulle.  To  this  I  wear  a  turban  of  white  crepe 
spangled  with  silver,  and  trust  I  shall  do  credit  to  my  Werner 
in  this  costume.  Kockeritz  has  secured  lodgings  for  us  at  the 
'  Golden  Ball.'  How  I  am  looking  forward  to  it  all ! " 
The  diary  is  silent  till 

August  20,  1798. 

We  are  at  home  again  and  I  can  once  more  devote  a  little 
time  to  my  dear  diary.  I  am  still  half  dazed  at  the  mass  of 
new  impressions  that  crowded  in  upon  me  and  the  many  new 
faces  I  saw  in  the  days  that  are  just  past,  but  I  will  do  my 
best  to  write  down  something  of  it  for  remembrance  in  the 
days  to  come. 

(There  follows  here  the  account  of  their  arrival  in  Berlin 
and  the  events  of  the  first  day — all  of  purely  private  interest.) 

...  On  the  following  day  came  the  "  Gratulationscour  " 
for  the  King's  birthday.  We  ladies  had  to  assemble  in  the 
"  Red  Eagle  Room  "  of  the  palace,  where  Countess  Voss  put 
both  us  and  our  dresses  under  rigorous  examination.  She  de- 
clared herself  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  drapery  round  the 
dccolletage  of  my  bodice,  so  I  pretended  to  push  it  down  a  lit- 
tle but,  in  reality,  it  remained  very  much  as  it  was  before.  The 
Countess  welcomed  Cecile  very  affably  and  added  a  few 
courteous  words  on  her  appearance  and  her  presence  there 
that  day.  She  then  beckoned  to  the  Marquise  de  Navaillac, 
who  was  overjoyed  at  meeting  her  compatriot.  It  soon  got 
about  who  Cecile  was,  and  many  of  the  ladies  begged  to  be  in- 
troduced. 

Our  gentlemen,  meanwhile,  were  in  the  "  Rittersaal."  The 


EVENTS  OF   1798  TO   1800. 

"  Cour  "  took  place  in  the  great  white  Saal,  where  the  King 
and  Queen  were  seated  on  crimson  velvet  Thrones.  The  gen- 
tlemen filed  past  first,  headed  by  the  Princes  of  the  Blood,  who 
afterwards  took  up  a  position  behind  Their  Majesties.  Then 
came  the  ladies,  under  the  guidance  of  Countess  Voss.  The 
Queen  wore  a  white  robe  trimmed  with  ermine,  a  necklace  of 
magnificent  diamonds,  and  on  her  hair,  which  was  gathered 
into  a  Greek  knot,  a  flashing  diadem.  Round  her  throat  was 
the  fine  diaphanous  scarf  Werner  described,  from  which  her 
fair  face  rose  like  a  lily. 

When  it  came  to  the  turn  of  the  ladies,  His  Majesty  rose 
and  stood  beside  the  Queen  with  a  hand  on  the  back  of  her 
seat,  bending  his  head  slightly  as  each  one  curtsied.  He  is 
tall  and  thin  with  regular  features,  whose  stern  gravity  only 
relaxed  somewhat  when  the  Queen  turned  to  him  with  some 
remark.  Cecile  came  immediately  behind  me,  her  former  posi- 
tion as  Lady-in-waiting  entitling  her  to  rank  as  a  married 
woman.  As  she  sank  in  a  deep  curtsey  and  the  Countess  men- 
tioned her  name,  adding — "  one  time  Dame  (Tatour  to  the 
Princess  de  Lamballe,"  something  quite  unexpected  occurred. 
The  Queen  suddenly  bent  forward,  and  taking  Cecile's  dear 
little  face  between  her  slender  hands,  she  kissed  her  on  the 
brow!  In  defiance  of  all  etiquette  I  turned  and  caught  the 
heartfelt  words — "  Ma  chere,  I  am  delighted  to  receive  you — 
most  faithful  of  faithful  friends!  I  hope  to  see  you  frequently 
here." 

Countess  Voss  shook  her  head  reprovingly  at  this  breach 
of  etiquette,  but  the  tears  rose  to  my  eyes  at  my  sweet  Queen's 
spontaneous  kindness  and  I  felt  myself  honoured  in  my  friend. 

The  "  march  past  "  over,  Her  Majesty  held  a  "  cercle  "  and 
had  those  ladies  presented  to  her  again  who  were  here  to-day 


THE  KING'S  BIRTHDAY.  13! 

for  the  first  time.  It  chanced  that  we  Alvenslebens — seven  of 
us  in  all — were  standing  together.  While  we  were  being  pre- 
sented, and  the  Countess  Voss  again  and  again  repeated  the 
name  of  Alvensleben,  the  King  came  up.  The  Queen  had  just 
come  to  me,  and  as  Countess  Voss  once  more  said — "  Frau 
von  Alvensleben  "  His  Majesty  broke  in — "  Half  Altmark 
seems  to  be  assembled  here  to-day. — Glad  to  see  so  many  Al- 
venslebens— good  old  family." 

He  nodded  affably  as  he  spoke,  though  the  short  dis- 
jointed sentences  did  not  sound  very  encouraging.  But  the 
Queen  was  all  the  kinder  and  was  pleased  to  enquire  after 
the  cousins  in  Wissen,  whom  she  remembered  from  her 
Rhineland  days.  She  then  passed  on  to  Cecile,  who  was 
standing  beside  me,  gave  her  her  hand  again  and  said,  half 
turning  to  me  and  with  that  exquisite  graciousness  which  is 
her  special  trait,  "  We  hope  to  see  both  the  ladies  to-morrow 
evening  in  the  Palace." 

Refreshments  were  then  handed  round  and  the  ceremony 
was  over. 

Next  evening  we  were  en  petite  cercle  at  the  Palace.  Be- 
sides ourselves  there  were  only  Kockeritz,  Wilhelm  von 
Humboldt,  Count  Arnim-Boitzenburg  with  his  lovely  wife  and 
the  immediate  suite.  The  Royal  establishment  is  on  the  sim- 
plest scale,  not  much  better  than  our  own.  The  furniture  is 
quite  homely,  not  a  sign  of  regal  splendour,  whereat  Cecile  is 
much  astonished.  The  souper,  which  was  served  at  separate 
small  tables,  was  also  of  the  plainest.  But  an  air  of  happy 
domesticity  reigns  over  all,  the  royal  couple  live  like  simple 
private  people  and  in  perfect  unity  of  heart.  My  admiration 
for  our  matchless  Queen  knows  no  bounds;  such  irresistible 
charm  and  tactful  cordiality  I  have  never  met  with  before. — 


132  EVENTS  OF   1798  TO   1800. 

My  Cecile  was  asked  for  various  details  of  her  tragic  story, 
and  Her  Majesty  could  not  hear  enough  about  the  Princess 
de  Lamballe.  Tears  stood  in  her  beautiful  eyes  at  the  ac- 
count of  her  terrible  end. — After  the  souper,  Countess  Voss 
read  aloud  a  few  chapters  from  a  tale  of  Lafontaine,  the  King 
listening  too  with  great  attention.  But  I  was  not  sorry  to  be 
seated  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  reader,  as  I  knew 
the  book  and  thought  it  very  dull — Kockeritz's  somewhat  ma- 
licious whispered  remarks  were  decidedly  more  entertaining. 
My  poor  Werner  did  not  appear  to  be  enjoying  himself 
much.  He  was  beside  Countess  Arnim,  who  only  speaks 
English,  of  which  he  knows  very  little.  In  his  escarpins  and 
tie-wig  my  husband  looked  a  little  conspicuous,  all  the  other 
gentlemen  wearing,  like  the  King,  pantalons  and  boots,  and 
their  hair  cut  short  "  a  la  guillotine." 

The  next  day  was  full  of  bustle  and  fatigue — in  the  after- 
noon a  grand  family  dinner  at  the  "  Preussischer  Hof,"  at 
which  all  the  Alvenslebens  now  in  Berlin  were  present. 
Forty-two  persons  sat  down  to  table  and  Cecile  was  the  only 
stranger. 

On  the  last  evening  of  our  stay  we  took  tea  in  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Queen  Dowager,  but  it  was  very  stiff  and  dull. 
I  afterwards  sat  alone  with  the  Queen  while  most  of  the  com- 
pany played  "  Boston,"  a  form  of  entertainment  which  never 
appealed  much  to  me.  She  asked  after  my  relations  and  my 
dear  home,  and  we  chatted  in  quite  an  easy,  familiar  strain. 
Poor  dear  lady,  she  has  had  much  to  bear !  She  is  very  kind- 
hearted  and  seemed  to  take  quite  a  fancy  to  simple  me. 

And  now  these  days  of  turmoil  and  excitement  are  over. 
We  have  seen  and  done  much  that  was  interesting,  but  the 
best  of  all  is  to  be  back  in  my  beloved  home  again  with  my 


DUCHESS  EDMEE  DESCRIBES   TALLEYRAND.  133 

precious  little  Phillinchen  beside  me.     Once  more  I  say  em- 
phatically : 

"  Go  East,  go  West, 
At  home  is  best  !  " 

During  the  succeeding  months  nothing  occurred  of  any 
great  moment.  Now  and  then,  however,  letters  must  have 
come  to  Cecile  from  the  Duchess,  and  in  the  middle  of  De- 
cember the  diary  gives  extracts  of  one  relating  chiefly  to 
the  notorious  Talleyrand. 

December  i8th. 

Cecile  read  me  the  letter  she  received  yesterday  from  the 
Duchess.  It  contained  passages  referring  to  the  much  talked 
of  statesman  Talleyrand  which  interested  me  greatly,  as  they 
give  a  different  impression  of  the  man  from  that  I  entertained 
hitherto. 

"  You  know  of  course  " — she  writes — "  that  the  Marquis 
de  Talleyrand-Perigord  belongs  to  one  of  our  oldest  and  most 
distinguished  families ;  nevertheless,  the  Marquis — then 
Bishop  of  Autun — went  over  to  the  '  tiers  etat '  during  the 
Revolution  and  formed  later  on  with  Sieyes  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  '  Assemblee  Constituante.'  In  conjunction  with 
Mirabeau  and  others  he  afterwards  founded  the  Jacobin  Club. 
It  was  he  who  first  proposed  the  sequestration  of  the  Church 
properties  and  was  the  bitterest  antagonist  of  the  priesthood. 
It  was  he  who  celebrated  Mass  at  the  Altar  of  Liberty  on  the 
Champ  de  Mars  and  consecrated  the  banners  of  Liberty. 

"  Affairs  threatening  to  become  dangerous  for  the  Assem- 
blee, and  his  letters  to  the  King  on  the  storming  of  the  Tui- 
leries  being  discovered,  he  fled  to  America,  whereupon  the 


134  EVENTS  OF   1798  TO   1800. 

Convention  placed  him  on  the  list  of  emigres  and  confiscated 
his  immense  fortune. 

"  After  Robespierre's  fall,  he  returned  and  obtained — 
through  Barras'  agency,  I  believe — the  post  of  Minister,  with 
restitution  of  his  property.  They  say  he  is  the  most  ter- 
rible egoist,  but  he  certainly  has  an  amazing  influence  over 
the  minds  of  the  persons  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact. 

"  Madame  de  Stael,  for  example,  is  a  very  clever  woman, 
yet  he  has  always  made  her  do  exactly  what  he  wanted.  It 
was  through  her  influence  with  Barras,  they  say,  that  he  got 
this  post.  We  always  call  him  the  Sphinx — he  is  so  inscru- 
table. He  has  chosen  the  most  extraordinary  person  for  his 
wife,  a  certain  Madame  Grant  who  is  said  to  have  lived  with 
him  for  long;  a  woman  in  every  respect — birth,  intelligence, 
education — infinitely  beneath  him. 

"  This  is  the  man  then  who  now  represents  the  State  in 
foreign  affairs — and  very  cleverly,  too,  I  believe.  Here  in 
Paris  Cousin  Barras  is  still  at  the  helm ;  but  I  can  assure  you 
the  grumbling  of  the  people  waxes  louder  every  day.  The 
financial  prospects  do  not  improve,  and  the  great  sums  from 
Bonaparte's  conquests  in  Italy  have  ceased  to  flow  in.  The 
Directoire  is  hated,  and  everybody  judges  a  catastrophe  of 
some  kind  to  be  imminent.  Meanwhile  General  Bonaparte 
— whom  many  look  upon  as  the  Man  of  the  Future — is  piling 
victory  upon  victory  in  Egypt,  and  a  sort  of  fabulous  halo  is 
beginning  to  surround  the  name  of  this  man,  who  already 
ranks  almost  as  a  demigod  with  the  nation." 

These  were  the  most  interesting  points  in  the  Duchess's 
letter. 

Conversing  with  Cecile  afterwards,  and  speculating  on  the 
actual  fruits  of  this  bloody  revolution  and  what  the  French 


LOUIS  xvi.  AND  FREDERICK  WILLIAM  in.  COMPARED.  133 

nation  had  obtained  in  exchange  for  its  well-meaning  King, 
Cecile  made  a  comparison  which  struck  me  forcibly  and  in 
which  I  cannot  say  she  was  altogether  mistaken. 

"  Louis  XVI.,"  she  said,  "  was  an  honest  and  single 
minded  man  and  his  ideas  of  government  were  undeniably  just 
and  conscientious.  He  could  not  endure  to  see  any  one  suffer, 
nor  did  he  ever  intentionally  give  offence.  He  was  most  un- 
pretentious and  diffident  and  of  so  retiring  a  disposition  as 
to  be  often  accused  of  misanthropy.  In  society  he  was  always 
ill  at  ease  and  lacking  in  self-confidence.  '  Now  are  not  all 
these  the  characteristic  qualities  of  your  King  Frederick  Wil- 
liam III.  ?  '  she  asked.  "  Indeed  I  would  carry  the  similarity 
between  the  Royal  houses  still  further  and  compare  the  two 
Queens  with  one  another.  I  firmly  believe  that  had  not  our 
Marie  Antoinette  been  placed  upon  the  throne  as  a  mere  child, 
she  would  have  developed  the  same  noble  qualities  that  adorn 
your  matchless  Queen  Luise.  The  two  august  Ladies  have 
otherwise  much  in  common — the  same  classical  type  of 
beauty,  the  same  regal  carriage,  the  same  ineffable  grace  and 
sympathetic  manner.  Both  love  dancing  and  all  the  harmless 
pleasures  of  life.  Under  the  rule  of  the  late  King  you  had 
much  the  same  unprofitable  condition  of  things  as  that  which 
obtained  under  Louis  XV.  and  the  same  legacy  fell,  in  this 
respect,  to  the  two  young  Royal  couples.  Where  now  lies 
the  enormous  difference  in  the  results  here  and  yonder?  It 
lies  chiefly  in  the  character  of  your  people,  who  are  not  to  be 
named  in  the  same  breath  with  the  rabble  that  hounded  my 
poor  King  and  Queen  to  their  death.  It  lies  furthermore  in 
the  qualities  of  the  Hohenzollerns  themselves,  whose  rule  has 
planted  loyalty  so  deep  in  the  hearts  of  their  people  that  it 
cannot  be  rooted  out." 


136  EVENTS  OF  1879  TO   1800. 

In  the  spring  of  1799  the  following  entry  occurs  in  the 
diary : 

April  8,  1799. 

Darling  little  Phillinchen,  how  she  grows  and  flourishes, 
God  bless  her !  She  is  getting  to  be  quite  a  big  girl  now  and 
is  raised  to  the  dignity  of  having  a  tutor  in  the  person  of  the 
Herr  "  Candidatus  "  Vultejus.  What  a  queer  creature  he  is, 
to  be  sure!  Apparently  no  thought  for  anything  outside  his 
teaching  and  his  eternal  Latin.  Cecile,  who  is  so  clever  and 
anxious  to  learn  everything,  insists  on  taking  lessons  of  him 
in  this  language  of  the  savants!  The  Candidatus  is  very  se- 
vere with  her  and  it  is  rare  fun  being  present  at  one  of  these 
lessons.  My  Phillinchen,  bless  her,  gets  on  well  in  her  studies 
with  the  good  man. 

A  day  or  two  ago  Cecile  received  a  letter  from  her  young 
cousin  in  Brussels,  telling  her  that  he  had  passed  his  exami- 
nations well  last  year  and  now  wished  to  train  for  the  diplo- 
matic service.  He  wrote  further  that  his  stepmother  was  in 
failing  health  and  their  pecuniary  circumstances  far  from 
flourishing.  Could  Cecile  not  help  him  towards  pursuing  his 
career,  and  did  she  know  of  any  means  by  which,  like  so  many 
emigrants,  she  might  move  the  present  Government  in  Paris 
to  the  restitution  of  the  family  property?  Then  all  would  be 
well. 

It  was  a  very  nicely  expressed  and  sensible  letter,  and 
Cecile  of  her  kindness  forthwith  sent  the  young  man  a  sum 
of  money  for  the  furtherance  of  his  studies.  And  now  the 
idea  of  regaining  the  family  estates  occupies  her  day  and 
night.  She  has  already  written  on  the  subject  to  her  friend 
in  Paris. 

I  cannot  bear  even  to  think  that  I  may  thus  perhaps  lose 


ANNALIEBE  FEARS  TO   LOSE  HER  FRIEND.  137 

my  friend.  No  words  can  say  what  she  has  been  to  me.  The 
years  she  has  spent  at  my  side  shine  with  a  starry  radiance 
in  my  memory!  Nor  can  I  think  it  at  all  beneficial  to  her 
to  plunge  again  into  the  whirlpool  of  the  dreadful  city  where 
she  has  already  endured  such  heavy  sorrow. 

God  will  doubtless  order  all  things  for  the  best,  and  it  is 
at  least  some  consolation  to  me  that  the  affairs  of  that  Baby- 
lon of  a  Paris  seem  not  quite  so  desperate  as  they  were. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
THE  YEAR   1800  AND   BEGINNING  OF   1801. 

THE  year  1799  passed  and  a  new  century  began.  Cecile 
diligently  pursued  her  Latin  studies  under  the  Candidatus, 
whose  teaching  of  Phillinchen,  my  dear  little  grandmother, 
appears  to  have  given  the  utmost  satisfaction.  Meanwhile 
the  eyes  of  the  whole  world  were  upon  France,  and  the  events 
there  caused  a  great  stir  even  in  this  little  sleepy  corner  of 
the  Altmark. 

On  October  9th,  1799,  General  Bonaparte  returned  un- 
expectedly from  Egypt.  The  campaign  against  Austria  in  the 
preceding  year  had  fallen  out  most  disastrously  for  the  Direc- 
toire,  and  Austria  was  victorious  at  every  point.  This  sudden 
change  in  the  fortune  of  war  was  viewed  with  astonishment 
and  dismay  by  the  French  people,  who  were  at  a  loss  to  un- 
derstand why  the  victors  of  Rivoli  and  Castiglione  should 
now  be  the  vanquished.  Each  reverse  was  accordingly  laid 
to  the  charge  of  the  Directoire;  from  all  sides  came  angry 
mutterings  of  betrayal,  and  the  existing  government  grew 
ever  more  obnoxious  to  the  people.  This  was  doubtless  the 
moment  Bonaparte  had  always  foreseen.  The  fruit  was  now 
ripe  to  his  hand — here  was  his  cue  for  suddenly  appearing 
upon  the  scene  as  the  Deliverer  of  the  Nation.  He  handed 
over  the  command  of  the  Army  in  Egypt  to  Kleber  and  re- 

138 


BONAPARTE  AS  FIRST  CONSUL.  139 

entered  Paris  on  the  9th  Brumaire.  The  people  received  him 
with  frantic  jubilation,  and  offers  of  advancement  poured  in 
on  him  from  every  side. 

Barras  invited  him  to  resume  command  in  Italy,  but 
Sieyes  and  Ducos,  who  carried  the  majority  of  the  Council  of 
the  Five  Hundred  with  them,  proposed  that  he  should  over- 
throw  the  Government  and  combine  with  them  in  forming  a 
new  Constitution.  Accordingly  on  the  i8th  Brumaire  (Nov. 
9th),  supported  by  his  brother  Lucian,  Murat  and  the  troops, 
who  idolised  him,  he  dissolved  the  Council,  the  Government 
was  overthrown,  and  the  executive  power  vested  in  three  Con- 
suls :  Sieyes,  Ducos,  and  Bonaparte.  Barras  resigned  and 
cheerfully  withdrew  with  his  ill-gotten  millions  to  his  coun- 
try seat. 

At  the  very  first  sitting  a  struggle  ensued  between  the 
Consuls  on  the  subject  of  precedence,  Ducos,  against  Sieyes' 
wish,  yielding  the  place  to  Bonaparte,  because  he  had  the 
sense  to  perceive  that  Bonaparte,  with  his  energetic  and  force- 
ful character,  was  more  fitted  to  pilot  the  ship  of  state  through 
these  stormy  waters  than  the  cowardly  and  vacillating  Sieyes 
who,  during  the  recent  coup  d'etat,  had  shut  himself  up  in  his 
carriage  and  cautiously  awaited  the  result  on  the  outskirts  of 
St.  Cloud. 

Events  followed  thick  and  fast.  On  the  3d  Vendemiare, 
Bonaparte,  supported  by  the  blind  devotion  of  the  Army, 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  State  as  First  Consul  with 
the  privileges  of  a  monarch,  and  the  French  nation  received 
a  ruler  invested  with  supreme  power.  Bonaparte  nominated 
ministers  and  generals,  he  filled  all  offices  of  state  with  his 
creatures,  and  the  Army  and  the  National  Guard  were  en- 
tirely subservient  to  him.  The  other  two  Consuls  resigned 


I4O  THE  YEAR   1800  AND  BEGINNING  OF  1801. 

and  were  at  once  replaced  by  Cambaceres  and  Lebrun,  men 
wholly  devoted  to  Bonaparte. 

This  new  disposition  of  office  was  made  known  on  the 
25th  Nivose  (Feb.  iQth,  1800),  and  Bonaparte  took  up  his 
residence  at  the  Tuileries  with  almost  regal  pomp. 

His  first  decrees  from  thence  excited  universal  astonish- 
ment. He  abolished  the  fete  in  memory  of  the  execution  of 
Louis  XVI.  and  re-established  the  practice  of  religion,  after 
which  he  closed  the  "  emigrant  list "  and  called  upon  all 
refugees  to  return  to  France.  The  nation  declared  itself  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  it  all.  Bonaparte  knew  exactly  how  to 
impress  the  people.  His  rule  promised  them  peace  and  order 
and  security,  but  above  all  things  "  gloire."  For  now  he 
turned  upon  the  enemies  of  the  country.  He  and  Moreau 
defeated  the  Austrians  at  Hochstadt,  Biberach  and  Memmin- 
gen  and  annihilated  their  Army  at  Marengo.  By  July  28th 
an  armistice — the  forerunner  of  a  conclusive  peace — put  an 
end  to  the  hostilities  in  Germany  and  Italy,  and  the  laurel- 
crowned  First  Consul  was  received  on  his  entry  into  Paris 
with  regal  honours.  In  him  France  had  obtained  what  she 
so  urgently  required — a  strong  hand  to  hold  her  in  check, 
and  besides  that  glory  and  fame  enough  to  flatter  her  vanity. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that,  as  his  valet  Constant  tells 
us  in  his  memoirs,  he  should  have  said  of  this  people  whom 
he  had  set  himself  to  govern :  "  Le  peuple  frangais  est  une 
bete  que  chacun  monte  a  son  tour/'  and — "la  France  avait 
plus  besoin  de  moi,  que  moi  d'elle." 


THIRD  LETTER  FROM  THE  DUCHESS.  14! 

THIRD   LETTER   FROM   THE   DUCHESS. 

PARIS,  isth  Messidor  1800. 

If,  my  dearest  Cecile,  you  have  followed  in  the  news- 
papers the  amazing  course  of  events  over  here,  you  will  do 
me  the  justice  to  acknowledge  that  I  was  a  good  prophetess. 
Did  I  not  foretell  all  that  has  happened?  If  I  date  my  letter 
to-day  by  the  republican  reckoning  it  is  probably  for  the  last 
time.  France  is  at  long  last  returning  to  her  senses.  Bona- 
parte, whose  firm  hand  is  now  upon  the  reins,  will  soon  sweep 
away  all  this  republican  foolery. 

Truly,  my  dear,  when  I  look  back  upon  the  events  of  the 
last  few  years  and  consider  the  difficulties  this  extraordinary 
man  had  to  overcome,  I  am  filled  with  admiration  and  amaze- 
ment at  his  dauntless  energy  in  quelling  the  Revolution.  How 
he  dominates  the  men  he  has  about  him !  You  saw  that  his 
first  action  after  coming  into  office  was  to  do  away  with  the 
emigrant  list?  As  he  has  begun  so  he  will  continue,  and  it 
will  not  be  long  before  he  brings  in  the  old  calendar  once 
more,  unless,  indeed,  he  follows  the  old  style  and  makes  the 
new  French  era  date  from  the  first  year  of  his  reign. 

What  will  be  the  final  outcome  of  it  all,  I  wonder?  My 
friends  here  look  forward  to  the  ultimate  return  of  our  be- 
loved Royal  House  and  already  imagine  they  see  Louis 
XVIII.  in  the  Tuileries.  But  I  think  they  are  deluding  them- 
selves. 

Two  or  three  evenings  ago  there  was  a  soiree  at  Madame 
de  Montesson's  at  which  the  Comte  de  Neufville  and  the  Sieur 
de  Dadigne,  the  two  Bourbon  agents,  were  present.  The 
former  was  speaking  of  his  recent  audience  (you  see,  the  term 
has  cropped  up  again)  with  the  First  Consul,  during  which 


*42  THE  YEAR   1800  AND  BEGINNING  OF   1801. 

Bonaparte  had  said  he  would  forget  the  past  and  readily  ac- 
cept the  submission  of  all  Legitimists  if  they  would  acknow- 
ledge him  as  the  Head  of  the  State,  but  as  to  placing  the 
Bourbons  on  the  throne  again — that  would  only  be  possible 
over  five  hundred  thousand  bodies! 

You  may  take  my  word  for  it,  Cecile,  that  man  will  never 
let  the  reins  slip  from  his  hands.  Must  I  say  unfortunately? 
— do  you  expect  me  to  believe  Louis  XVIII.  capable  of  fill- 
ing Bonaparte's  present  position?  The  favour  which  the 
First  Consul  extends  to  such  of  the  nobility  as  have  returned 
is  already  making  itself  felt.  I  hear  almost  daily  from  my 
friends  of  offers  to  re-enter  the  service  of  the  State.  Already 
you  may  see  the  names  of  some  of  our  first  families,  such  as 
the  Montmorencys  and  the  Montgomerys,  figuring  in  the 
official  list.  Some  of  them  have  obtained  restitution  of  their 
property,  and  that  brings  me  to  your  enquiry  whether  I  could 
not  assist  you  towards  regaining  yours.  That,  I  am  sadly 
afraid,  is  not  in  my  power.  For  that  it  would  be  absolutely 
necessary  that  you  should  come  to  Paris  yourself  and,  even 
then,  it  would  be  difficult  enough.  What  have  you — a  woman 
— to  offer  the  First  Consul  in  return?  And  without  an  equi- 
valent he  will  do  nothing.  Would  you  consent  to  enter 
Madame  Josephine's  Household?  Hardly,  I  fancy.  You 
would  do  better,  therefore,  I  think,  to  postpone  your  coming 
for  a  while,  dearly  as  I  should  love  to  have  you  with  me.  Wait 
for  a  more  favourable  conjuncture  of  affairs.  If,  however, 
you  would  care  to  become  First  Lady-in-waiting  to  Madame 
Bonaparte,  why  then  come  without  a  moment's  delay  and 
you  will  get  anything  you  choose  to  ask  for.  Bonaparte,  you 
must  know,  has  not  hitherto  been  very  successful  in  the  fill- 
ing of  these  posts.  He  offered  the  highest  appointments  both 


BONAPARTE   AND   THE  NOBILITY.  143 

in  his  and  Madame's  households  to  members  of  the  old  no- 
bility, but  only  to  meet  with  polite  refusal.  All  the  worthy 
citoyens  with  the  de  to  their  names  who  now  occupy  these 
posts  are  drawn  from  the  class  of  small  landed  or  financial 
aristocracy. 

Only  one  of  us,  the  Vicomte  de  Segur,  has  followed  the 
invitation  and  has  been  created  Viceprefet  du  Palais.  But 
the  old  families  all  hold  aloof  from  him  in  consequence;  be- 
sides, he  is  not  actually  one  of  us.  He  was  only  reckoned  so 
because  of  his  great-grandfather  and  grandfather  having  been 
Marechal  de  France.  The  fact  is  there  are  just  a  few  things 
Bonaparte  cannot  get  for  glory  or  money.  He  has  crossed 
the  Alps  and  passed  through  the  Syrian  deserts,  has  con- 
quered lands  and  holds  almost  autocratic  sway  over  thirty 
millions  of  French  subjects,  and  yet  he  feels  there  is  some- 
thing missing — to  wit,  that  caste  which  for  a  thousand  years 
has  ruled  the  land  under  our  old  Kings.  Seeing  those  Dukes 
and  Marquises,  whose  services  he  so  greatly  covets,  slowly 
gathering  again  in  the  houses  of  the  Faubourg  Saint  Germain 
he  sends  his  agents  to  them  with  promises  of  gold  and  hon- 
ours and  all  their  hearts  may  desire.  But  in  vain.  These 
nobles  will  have  all  or  nothing,  and  the  all  means  the  Throne 
for  their  hereditary  Rulers.  That,  of  course,  is  the  one  thing 
he  will  not  give  them.  And  yet  he  is  perfectly  aware  that  it 
would  be  a  gross  mistake  to  destroy  the  nobility — as  doubtless 
he  has  every  desire  to  do — for  he  sees  that  he  has  need  of 
them.  A  Monarchy  without  a  Nobility — the  link  between  the 
King  of  the  People — is  not  conceivable.  And  so  he  waits 
and  waits  for  the  moment  which  shall  bridge  the  gulf  between 
him  and  this  haughty  caste.  It  would  flatter  his  vanity  enor- 
mously to  see  some  of  them  in  personal  attendance  on  him, 


144  THE  YEAR   1800  AND  BEGINNING  OF  1801. 

the  upstart,  but  also  he  would  regard  that  step  as  a  proof  that 
the  old  order  of  things  had  made  way  conclusively  for  his — 
the  new.  Apropos  of  which,  his  former  confrere,  Sieyes,  is 
reported  to  have  said  to  him  once  that  he  would  not  believe 
in  the  permanence  of  Bonaparte's  rule  till  he  saw  the  old  no- 
bility once  more  in  the  ante-chambers  of  the  Tuileries.* 

And  that,  my  dear  Cecile,  is  what  this  great  man  is  look- 
ing forward  to — for  that  this  Corsican  is  a  great  man  there  is 
no  denying.  Gladly  as  I  would  welcome  a  descendant  of  our 
Royal  House  to  the  throne,  I  am  bound  to  confess  that  God 
has  endowed  our  present  ruler  with  extraordinary  gifts. 

For  look  you — in  setting  up  this  new  throne  of  his  he  must 
begin  at  the  very  foundations.  Nothing  remained  of  the  old 
structure,  and  he  had  no  materials  but  his  military  fame.  He 
must  institute  a  new  order  of  things  and  that  almost  without 
one  necessary  adjunct — no  ecclesiastical  sanction,  no  powerful 
aristocracy  to  support  the  throne,  no  background  of  family 
tradition ;  in  short,  absolutely  nothing  but  his  brilliant  military 
record. 

So  what  does  he  do?  He  makes  haste  to  re-establish  the 
Church  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope — with  a  view,  I  should 
imagine,  to  demanding  his  sanction  in  the  future.  Next,  see- 
ing that  he  cannot  have  the  old,  he  does  his  best  to  create  a 
new  nobility,  taking  it,  like  Charlemagne,  from  among  his  old 

*  Madame  Recamier  relates  in  her  memoirs  how,  later  on,  when 
Bonaparte  was  Emperor  and  Marie  Louise  of  Austria  shared  his 
throne,  the  Emperor  whispered  to  "  Count "  Sieyes  as  he  stood  among 
the  Dukes  and  Counts  of  the  old  regime:  "  Do  you  believe  now  that 
it  is  all  over  ?  "  To  which  the  old  diplomatist,  now  turned  courtier, 
replied  with  a  low  bow:  "Your  Imperial  Majesty  has  succeeded  be- 
yond my  utmost  expectations."— M?te  by  the  Editor. 


BONAPARTE  AND  THE  CHURCH.  145 

companions-in-arms.  Thus  he  has  gradually  built  up  a  new 
Court  with  Chief  Butlers  and  First  Lords  of  the  Bedchamber 
and  all  the  rest  of  it;  he  has  even  evolved  a  fresh  code  of  Court 
Ceremonial. 

And  all  this  he  does  entirely  alone  and  unaided.  But  he 
thoroughly  understands  the  nation  he  has  to  deal  with.  Let 
this  people  ever  open  its  mouth  to  oppose  him  and  he  has  only 
to  stuff  a  piece  of  the  gilded  gingerbread  of  "  la  gloire  "  into 
it  and  all  is  well. 

Speaking  of  Bonaparte's  re-establishment  of  the  Church, 
the  Duke  de  Guiche  told  us  the  other  evening  at  the  de 
Noailles'  of  a  conversation  between  Girardin  and  the  First 
Consul  over  the  arrangements  of  the  gorgeously  appointed 
chapel  in  the  Tuileries.  Girardin  ventured  the  opinion  that 
Bonaparte  ought  to  attend  the  services  himself.  "  Possibly," 
returned  the  First  Consul,  and  then  added :  "  It  is  necessary 
and  so  I  must,  but  in  that  case  have  the  goodness  to  provide 
the  best  music  that  is  to  be  procured.  It  keeps  the  people 
awake.  During  the  past  years  they  have  entirely  lost  the 
habit  of  religious  observance  of  any  kind.  The  only  way  to 
lure  them  back  to  the  churches  and  cathedrals  is  by  offering 
them  an  attractive  ceremonial." 

Girardin  obeyed  this  command,  with  the  result  that  the 
music  here  is  absolutely  unrivalled.  The  singers,  both  male 
and  female,  receive  salaries  such  as  no  theatre  can  offer  them, 
and  the  churches  are  crammed  to  the  very  doors. 

Madame  Josephine  is  to  be  seen  every  Sunday  kneeling  in 
pious  meditation  on  her  crimson  velvet  prie-dieu,  a  diadem  of 
brilliants  on  her  hair,  coiffee  a  la  grecque,  and  a  trailing  robe  of 
pale  blue  velvet  with  short  sleeves.  Candles  burn,  the  censers 
swing,  and  the  priest  stands  at  the  altar  celebrating  Mass,  and 


146  THE  YEAR   1800  AND  BEGINNING  OF   1801. 

nobody  remembers  what  a  short  time  has  elapsed  since  a 
frenzied  Government  decreed  to  abolish  the  Almighty,  and  the 
whole  Nation  bowed  down  and  worshipped  the  Goddess  of 
Reason! 

And,  vois-tu  Cecile,  all  this  the  great  man  has  achieved 
alone,  still  surrounded  as  he  is  by  the  howling  pack  of  Jacobins 
from  whose  jaws  he  tore  the  bleeding  remnants  of  their  mur- 
derous rule.  They  are  ever  prowling  round  him,  seeking  how 
they  may  destroy  him;  but  he  goes  on  his  way  undaunted, 
following  the  guidance  of  his  Star,  which  has  already  brought 
him  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  earthly  fame. 

There  you  have  a  sketch  of  the  present  state  of  affairs  in 
Paris,  and  any  one  who,  like  myself,  has  watched  the  course  of 
events  for  any  length  of  time  is  thankful  for  the  stability  this 
Government  appears  to  promise.  It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped 
that  things  will  remain  as  they  are  and  that  no  assassin's  dag- 
ger may  reach  the  phenomenal,  well-nigh  superhuman,  man 
who  now  stands  at  the  head  of  the  nation.  Monsieur  my 
cousin  Barras  is  living  in  splendid  retirement  at  his  Chateau  of 
Pierrefitte ;  very  well  satisfied,  I  expect,  with  his  condition,  for, 
between  ourselves,  he  was  terribly  frightened  lest  they  would 
take  it  into  their  heads  to  deprive  him  of  the  millions  he  had 
so  industriously  collected.  It  is  a  great  pity  you  did  not  come 
here  while  he  was  in  office;  I  could  have  done  more  for  you 
then.  However  I  will  talk  over  tes  affaires  with  our  good 
friend  de  Montesson.  She  is  in  high  favour  with  the  First 
Consul  and  will  be  able  to  advise  you  better  than  I.  I  will 
write  as  soon  as  I  hear  anything  to  your  advantage. 

Till  then  and  always  your 

EDMEE. 


CECILE'S  DEPARTURE.  147 

More  than  a  year  passed  before  another  letter  arrived  from 
the  Duchess.  This  time  it  was  to  say  that  the  propitious  mo- 
ment had  come  for  Cecile's  appearance  in  Paris,  everything 
had  been  put  in  train  for  her  reception.  On  September  21, 
1801,  my  great-grandmother  writes  in  her  diary: 

To-day  has  brought  me  sorrow  to  the  very  depths  of  my 
soul!  I  cannot,  cannot  believe  that  I  am  to  lose  my  Cecile. 
And  yet  how  can  I  do  otherwise  than  approve  of  her  plan? 
Her  slender  fortune  will  never  suffice  for  her — I  trust — long 
life  and  the  demands  her  cousin  makes  upon  it,  and  of  course 
it  is  but  natural  that  she  should  wish  to  recover  what  the  Revo- 
lution despoiled  her  family  of.  Paris  seems  in  a  more  settled 
state  now.  The  Duchess  writes  she  has  done  what  she  could 
to  interest  Madame  Bonaparte  for  Cecile's  affairs,  which 
sounds  encouraging.  But  oh,  how  hard — how  hard  the 
parting  will  be  to  me!  How  shall  I  get  on  without  my  sweet 
friend — she  who  has  won  my  whole  heart  during  these  years 
of  dear  companionship?  How  am  I  to  fill  the  gap  thus  made 
in  my  life?  My  husband  has  his  many  outdoor  occupations, 
Phillinchen  grows  daily  less  dependent  on  me  and  has  her 
regular  hours  with  her  tutor,  and  I,  till  now,  always  had  my 
Cecile  to  turn  to — nothing  occurred  throughout  the  day  that 
we  did  not  consult  over  together.  And  now  I  am  to  let  her 
go — oh,  it  is  too  hard!  I  can  do  nothing  but  weep.  I  make 
the  very  most  of  every  day,  every  hour  that  is  left  to  me.  Only 
three  short  weeks  and  she  will  be  gone,  and  there  is  so  much 
to  be  done,  to  be  thought  of  before  then.  Besides  it  is  so  far, 
so  far  to  that  horrible  Paris.  She  is  going  by  way  of  Cassel, 
having  received  an  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  wedding  of 
the  Princess  of  Hesse. 


148  THE  YEAR  1800  AND  BEGINNING  OF   1801. 

Cecile  tries  to  comfort  me  and  promises  to  write  as  often 
as  possible,  but  what  are  letters  compared  with  the  spoken 
word,  when  heart  answers  to  heart?  Shall  I  ever  see  her 
again?  A  dismal  foreboding  whispers — no.  Oh,  these  are 
days  of  bitter  sorrow  hastening  towards  me!  We  shall  let 
Cecile  have  our  carriage,  it  will  be  more  comfortable  for  her 
than  the  stage-coach,  and  she  can  get  relays  of  post-horses. 
We  are  going  to  accompany  her  as  far  as  Magdeburg  and  dear 
old  Uncle  Briest  too;  he  is  so  warmly  attached  to  Cecile.  Oh, 
I  dare  not  think  of  the  day  when  I  shall  clasp  the  dear  creature 
in  my  arms  for  the  last  time.  God  be  with  us  both! 

Cecile  left  on  the  I5th  of  October,  1801.  The  parting  at 
Magdeburg  was  very  harrowing  to  all  of  them,  and  even  old 
Uncle  Briest  could  hardly  speak  for  emotion.  Annaliebe 
alone  accompanied  her  friend  to  the  Ulrich  Gate  of  Magde- 
burg; then  came  the  last  embrace,  the  last  fond  kiss — a  wave 
of  the  handkerchief  out  of  the  carriage  window  and  the 
Baroness  drove  forth  to  meet  the  uncertain  future. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

LETTERS  FROM   THE  BARONESS. 
FIRST  LETTER. 

CASSIX,  October  25,  1801. 

My  own  darling  Annaliebe: 

This  will  be  the  first  of  many  letters  to  you,  now  that  I  am 
far  away  from  the  dear  spot  that  came  to  be  my  second  home. 
They  shall  tell  you  of  all  I  see  and  feel  and  all  that  happens  to 
me,  so  that,  in  spirit  at  least,  we  may  be  almost  as  much  to- 
gether as  before. 

You  know,  dear  heart,  how  bitterly  I  felt  parting  from  my 
beloved  friends,  and  even  at  the  last  moment  I  hesitated 
whether  I  would  not  do  better  to  cast  these  ambitious  plans 
to  the  winds  and  remain  with  you  in  that  haven  of  peace  and 
sweet  content.  But  the  thought  of  Camille's  future  and  the 
honour  of  our  old  name  forced  me  to  thrust  my  personal  de- 
sires into  the  background  and  so  with  an  aching  heart  I  tore 
myself  away. — For  how  long? — It  is  impossible  to  say.  It  all 
depends  on  the  course  my  affairs  take. 

Though  correspondence  is  but  a  poor  substitute  for  our 
delightful  gossips  in  your  cosy  little  boudoir,  I  will  write  as 
often  as  ever  I  can  and  so  bring  my  spirit  a  little  nearer  to 
yours.  In  the  week  that  has  passed  since  our  parting,  at  each 

149 


150  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

beauty  of  the  scenery,  at  every  fresh  acquaintance  I  made,  I 
found  myself  calling  upon  you  for  an  opinion,  and  many  were 
the  bitter  tears  I  shed  when  I  realised  anew  that  my  life  must 
henceforth  be  passed  apart  from  your  dear  companionship. 

I  was  received  with  the  most  flattering  cordiality  by  all  the 
people — the  Wulffens,  Krosigks,  Alvenslebens,  and  so  on — 
to  whom  you  so  kindly  recommended  me.  At  the  Spiegels 
in  Halberstadt,  where  I  stopped  the  night  in  their  beautiful 
house  behind  the  stately  Cathedral,  I  enjoyed  a  delightful  sur- 
prise. They  had  asked  a  few  friends  to  meet  me,  and  who 
should  be  among  them  but  our  dear  faithful  old  Gleim!  You 
may  imagine  how  pleased  I  was.  The  conversation  turned  a 
good  deal  upon  Madame  Maria  Antonia  von  Pessima 
Branconi  who  is  just  dead.  I  was  much  interested  to  hear 
something  of  this  cultivated  and  charming  woman — the  mis- 
tress, you  know,  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick — because  Cag- 
liostro,  that  arrant  impostor  who  also  played  a  part  in  the 
affair  of  the  Queen's  necklace,  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Lang- 
enstein,  the  estate  given  her  by  the  Duke,  where  she  was  fond 
of  gathering  round  her  a  circle  of  poets  and  other  notabilities. 
Cagliostro  is  said  to  have  duped  her  too.  I  was  rather  sur- 
prised that  the  somewhat  strait-laced  Baroness  Spiegel  should 
openly  associate  with  a  recognised  "  maitresse  en  titre,"  but 
the  Branconi  was  really  a  most  interesting  and  exceptional 
creature,  and  so  the  worthy  lady  doubtless  overlooked  her 
past. 

I  have  been  in  Cassel  two  days  now  and  the  famous  wed- 
ding is  over.  My  friend  Madame  Schlotheim,  the  First  Lady- 
in-Waiting,  had  made  all  the  necessary  arrangements  for  me 
and  I  received  my  card  of  invitation  immediately  on  my  ar- 
rival. 


THE  ROYAL  WEDDING  AT  CASSEL.  I$I 

Yesterday  was  the  great  day;  the  Bridegroom  with  Prince 
Frederick  and  the  Hereditary  Prince  and  Princess  having  ar- 
rived the  day  before  and  taken  up  their  residence  in  the  Palace 
on  the  Paradeplatz.  In  the  morning  I  went  to  look  at  the 
Trousseau  of  the  Bride  which  was  on  view  in  one  of  the  apart- 
ments of  the  palace.  The  dresses  were  displayed  upon  a  long 
table  in  the  middle  of  the  room  and  round  about  stood  smaller 
tables  on  which  lay  the  body  linen,  the  bridal  robe,  hats, 
coiffes,  shoes,  and  various  nippes.  Many  of  the  dresses  were 
extremely  rich  and  elegant;  all  had  immensely  long  trains  and 
separate  sleeves,  either  of  old  point  or  embroidered  muslin  or 
lawn.  The  bridal  robe,  I  was  told,  was  a  gift  from  your  divine 
Queen  Luise,  who  had  chosen  and  had  it  carried  out  after  her 
own  design  in  Berlin.  I  was  much  struck  by  two  other  dresses, 
one  a  rose-coloured  ball  robe  wrought  with  silver  and  edged 
with  garlands  of  roses,  the  other  a  white  silk  tunic  with  a 
border  of  golden  wheatears  round  the  train,  and  the  overdress 
consisting  of  a  short  chlamys  formed  entirely  of  gold  fringe. 
All  the  dresses  looked  to  me  like  more  or  less  embroidered 
chemises  or  robes  a  la  turcque. 

Among  all  these  latest  fashions  I  was  surprised  to  find  that 
the  shoes,  even  down  to  the  pantoufflcs,  had  very  high  heels, 
for  you  remember  Aunt  Kroecher  telling  us,  only  a  short  time 
ago,  that  they  were  not  to  be  worn  any  more  as  they  spoilt 
the  walk. 

With  flat  soles  the  gait  is  firmer,  more  assured,  more  self- 
reliant  so  to  speak,  and  that  is  perhaps  why  the  Lords  of 
Creation  do  not  approve  of  them  and  always  advocate  the  stilt 
heel  for  their  wives.  You  see,  it  lies  in  the  nature  of  the 
stronger  sex  to  wish  to  lead  and  support  the  weaker  one 
(please  be  sure  to  read  this  passage  to  your  Werner,  and  Uncle 


IS2  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Briest  had  better  hear  it  too),  and  nobody  can  deny  that  high 
heels  impose  a  certain  restraint  upon  a  woman,  making  the 
man's  supporting  arm  well-nigh  a  necessity  to  her.  The  dis- 
carding of  the  high  heel  thus  marks  a  certain  form  of  emanci- 
pation, a  breath  of  the  new  spirit  of  freedom,  as  it  were,  to 
which  the  gentlemen  are  naturally  averse  (compris,  Uncle 
Briest?). 

The  Bride  was  described  to  me  as  a  gentle  and  amiable 
girl  of  a  clinging  and  somewhat  helpless  disposition — hence 
the  stilted  shoe.  Her  mother,  on  the  contrary,  being  of  very 
energetic  and  independent  character,  has  long  since  thrown  off 
these  trammels.  Thus,  Annaliebe,  is  a  woman's  character  re- 
vealed in  the  kind  of  shoe  she  affects.  Just  ask  your  lord  and 
master  which  of  us  two  ought  to  wear  high  heels. 

But  to  go  on  with  my  description. — From  early  morning 
onwards  a  closely  packed  crowd  stood  in  the  Paradeplatz, 
where  I  too  was  lodged  in  one  of  the  dcpcndances  of  the  Palace, 
staring  steadfastly  at  the  Princess's  windows,  for  all  the  world 
seems  much  more  interested  in  a  bride  than  a  bridegroom. 
The  Duke  of  Meiningen  was  given  a  State  dinner  in  the  after- 
noon at  Schloss  Wilhelmshohe,  but  as  we  had  plenty  of  time 
before  then,  Madame  Schlotheim  and  I  drove  out  to  see  this 
magnificent  palace  and  its  surroundings.  One  could  wish  to 
be  Landgraf  of  Hesse  if  only  to  possess  this  Elysium  which, 
with  its  marble  groups,  its  fountains,  and  long  vistas,  reminds 
me  not  a  little  of  Versailles,  though  its  splendid  outlook 
towards  the  Harz  and  the  green  forests  of  Thuringen  with 
their  castles  and  picturesque  ruins  in  the  foreground  makes 
this  really  much  finer. 

We  returned  about  four,  leaving  ourselves  just  time  to 
dress  before  the  Court  assembled  at  6  o'clock,  when  we  drove 


THE  WEDDING  FESTIVITIES.  153 

across  to  the  Palace.  The  gentlemen  were  collected  in  the 
Audience  Chamber,  where  the  marriage  ceremony  was  to  take 
place,  while  the  ladies  to  be  presented — myself  therefore 
among  the  number — were  in  a  gallery  adjacent  to  the  Land- 
graf's  apartments  and  my  old  friend,  as  Mistress  of  the  Cere- 
monies, had  the  kindness  to  place  me  in  the  front  line. 

One  of  the  ladies,  a  Countess  Bocholtz,  if  I  caught  the 
name  rightly,  was  distinctly  conspicuous  by  her  antiquated 
style  of  dress.  She  wore  a  great  fichu  menteur,  and  instead  of 
the  high  coiffure  now  in  vogue,  a  huge  blonde  chignon,  a  la 
Dubarry  of  infamous  memory,  hanging  in  the  nape  of  her 
neck,  the  colour  of  the  chignon  forming  a  ludicrous  contrast 
to  the  lady's  otherwise  gray  hair. 

At  7  o'clock  the  Landgraf,  accompanied  by  the  Prince  and 
preceded  by  the  Marechal  de  Cour  and  the  rest  of  the  Court 
dignitaries,  set  out  to  fetch  the  Bridegroom,  while  the  He- 
reditary Prince  and  the  Landgravine  traversed  our  gallery  on 
their  way  to  the  apartments  of  the  Bride. 

As  they  passed  between  the  long  lines  of  curtseying  ladies, 
the  Landgravine  stopped  in  front  of  me,  and  on  Madame  von 
Schlotheim  mentioning  my  name,  she  drew  me  up  to  her  and 
kissed  me  with  a  few  gracious  words  about  my  mission  to 
England  that  time,  also  referring  tenderly  to  my  beloved 
Princess.  She  then  proceeded  on  her  way  and  again  there 
was  the  crackle  and  rustle  of  silk  and  rich  brocade  as  the 
ladies  sank  almost  to  the  ground  at  her  approach.  They  had 
taken  but  little  note  of  me  up  till  then,  but  now  they  stared 
as  if  I  had  suddenly  received  a  Decoration.  Hardly  had  the 
Landgravine  and  her  escort  left  the  gallery,  than  I  was  be- 
sieged with  congratulations  on  the  honour  accorded  me. 

"  One  alone  amongst  them  offered  me  no  empty  phrases 


154  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

of  courtesy  and  that  was  a  young  and  lovely  Baroness  von  der 
Malsburg,  who  had  already  attracted  my  attention  because, 
in  her  dainty  girlishness,  she  reminded  me  of  Adelaide  de 
Noailles.  She  only  stood  near  me,  gazing  at  me  tenderly 
with  her  beautiful  blue  eyes  full  of  tears.  Almost  involun- 
tarily I  opened  my  arms  and  she  flew  to  me  and  sank  -upon 
my  breast  while  she  whispered,  "  Oh,  I  have  heard  so  many 
beautiful  things  of  you  and  have  loved  you  so  much  without 
knowing  you ! " 

Believe  me,  Annaliebe,  the  homage  of  this  pure  unsullied 
young  heart  was  more,  far  more  to  me  than  the  words  of  the 
Princess  or  the  stereotyped  congratulations  of  the  ladies.  I 
stroked  the  sweet  child's  golden  curls  with  a  loving  hand  and 
kissed  the  dewy  lips. 

Meanwhile  the  Bridal  Procession  had  been  conducted  with 
much  ceremony  and  blaring  of  trumpets  to  the  Audience 
Chamber,  whither  we  ladies  now  followed.  The  fair  Bride 
wore  the  lovely  robe  of  drap  d'argent  given  her  by  Queen 
Luise  and  had  a  circlet  of  diamonds  on  her  dark  hair.  Four 
charming  girls,  chosen  from  the  first  families  of  the  land,  bore 
her  train.  These  Demoiselles  were  in  white  and  wore  wreaths 
of  white  roses. 

The  nuptial  ceremony  over,  there  followed  a  grand  cour 
de  felicitation,  the  Landgrave  and  Landgravine  being  seated 
in  the  Throne  Room,  while  the  entire  Court,  headed  by  the 
newly  wedded  pair,  filed  past  them,  two  and  two.  Oh  my  dear, 
I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  Landgrave  with  his  stiff  peri- 
wig and  all  his  eccentricities !  You  remember  how  Kockeritz 
used  to  describe  him  to  us — if  you  could  but  have  seen  him 
sitting  huddled  up  on  the  Throne,  his  head  poked  forward, 


CECILE  LONGS  TO  BE  AT  KALBE.  1 55 

scanning  with  severest  exactitude  every  button  on  the  uni- 
forms, every  fold  in  the  dresses  of  the  couples  as  they  bent 
low  before  him !  "  Le  roi  soleil "  himself  would  almost  have 
been  put  to  shame. 

When,  at  last,  it  came  to  my  turn  to  offer  my  respectful 
homage  to  this  austere  sovereign,  and  the  Marechal  de  Cour 
murmured  my  name,  adding,  "  Sometime  Lady-in-waiting  to 
the  Princesse  de  Lamballe,"  I  heard  the  nasal  tones  of  the 
Landgrave:  "Princesse  de  Lamballe?  Qui  qa?  We  don't 
know  her !  " — My  sweetest  princess — so  soon  forgotten,  and 
by  this  princeling!  Yet  I  could  scarce  repress  a  smile. 

Herewith  the  wedding  festivities  were  over  for  me,  as  I 
was  not  invited  to  the  State  dinner;  so  I  drove  back  to  my 
lodging. 

When  Madame  de  Schlotheim  returned  in  the  evening  we 
sat  together  for  a  long  time  in  front  of  the  fire,  while  she  told 
me  a  number  of  diverting  stories  about  the  Landgrave.  Un- 
fortunately I  have  no  room  in  this  letter  to  retail  them  to  you. 

Oh,  my  Annaliebe,  when  shall  we  two  sit  together  again 
by  the  fire  in  your  pretty  room?  How  delightful  it  was  when 
the  great  elm  trees  swayed  in  the  wind  and  tapped  against 
the  window-panes,  while  the  wood  crackled  and  flamed  mer- 
rily on  the  hearth,  and  no  human  sound  broke  the  stillness 
but  Phillinchen  crooning  her  baby  songs  in  the  next  room. 
No  words  can  describe  the  healing  effect  of  that  sweet  peace- 
fulness  upon  my  worn  and  shattered  nerves. 

And  all  this  I  owe  to  you,  my  dear  ones — oh,  would  I  were 
back  again  at  your  side! 

Farewell  for  to-day,  my  sweetest  friend;  kiss  Phillinchen 
from  me  and  convey  my  affectionate  greetings  to  your  hus- 
band, to  Uncle  Briest  and  all  who  took  such  kindly  pity  on 


156  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

the  forlorn  alien.  My  next  letter  will  reach  you  from  Stras- 
burg,  the  next  halting  place  on  my  journey.  Adieu,  my  best 
beloved.  Love  me  as  I  love  you. 

Toute  a  toi, 

CECILE. 

In  my  great-grandmother's  diary  under  the  date  of  the 
Baroness  Cecile's  departure  there  is  affixed  a  little  work  of 
art:  a  posy  of  forget-me-nots  and  red  roses  surrounded  by 
a  wreath  of  immortelles,  all  exquisitely  painted  in  water- 
colours.  Written  underneath  are  the  words: 

aime  que  j'aime, 

tu  aimeras  toi  meme. 

CECILE. 
KALBE,  October  14,  1801. 

Touching  this  fond  little  memento  and  the  already  quoted 
letter  there  is  the  following  entry  in  the  diary : 

November  2,  1801. 

I  have  had  to  let  some  days  pass  before  allowing  my  grief 
to  find  vent  in  my  diary ;  I  was  almost  afraid  to  put  my  feel- 
ings into  words.  My  tears  have  not  yet  ceased  to  flow,  I  miss 
my  friend  so  terribly.  When  we  got  back  from  Magdeburg, 
I  found  this  delicate  little  bouquet  on  my  worktable — a  last 
sweet  souvenir  from  my  Cecile.  I  have  fixed  it  here  to  mark 
the  boundary  across  which  a  new  life  must  begin  for  me,  be- 
reft of  my  soul's  companion.  How  they  all  loved  her! 
Everybody  clamours  for  news  of  her,  and  now  Aunt  Kroecher 
writes  begging  me  to  send  Cecile's  letters  round  for  each 
of  them  to  read.  But  I  think  we  will  arrange  it  so :  when- 
ever one  of  these  dear  missives  arrives  I  shall  ask  our  intimate 


ANNALIEBE'S  GRIEF. 

friends — the  Pastors,  Uncle  Briest,  Aunt  Kroecher,  and  per- 
haps the  Schulenbergs,  to  come  here  and  I  will  read  them 
the  most  interesting  parts  aloud.  It  shall  be  a  Temple  of 
Friendship,  like  dear  old  Gleim's,  dedicated  to  Cecile. 

Dear  sweet  soul,  how  I  miss  you  at  every  turn!  Werner 
constantly  turns  round  when  we  are  alone,  thinking  Cecile  is 
entering  the  room,  and  Phillinchen's  cry  is,  "  When  is  Auntie 
Cissy  coming  back  again?"  Uncle  Briest  seems  quite  lost 
without  her,  and  as  to  the  poor  Herr  Candidatus,  his  long  sad 
face  is  piteous  to  behold.  My  Cecile  had  such  a  happy  gift  of 
treating  all  the  trivial  daily  occurrences  of  life  with  grace  and 
a  pretty  sprightly  humour,  so  that  nothing  appeared  dull  or 
uninteresting.  Ah,  Cecile,  you  have  left  a  gap  in  our  lives 
which  I  doubt  can  never  be  filled ! 

God  hold  thee  in  His  keeping,  my  best  and  sweetest  of 
friends. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
SECOND  LETTER. 

STRASBURG,  3d  Brumaire,  Year  X. 

You  will  perceive  by  the  above  dating,  cherie,  that  I  am 
now  in  Republican  France,  and  I  suppose  one  must  just  put 
up  with  the  custom  till  it  pleases  Bonaparte  to  recall  the  dear 
old  months  from  exile.  Your  German  proverb  says,  "  It  is 
best  to  howl  with  the  wolves  " — eh  bicn,  let  us  then,  by  all 
means,  howl  with  these  brave  republicans! 

You  cannot  conceive,  my  Annaliebe,  how  utterly  absurd 
these  people  are  with  their  pompous  affectations  and  their 
everlasting  "  citoyen  and  citoyenne."  I  feel  all  the  time  as  if  I 
were  at  a  masquerade  and  can  scarcely  help  laughing  in  their 
faces.  Of  course  it  is  all  the  more  ridiculous  in  a  little  town 
like  this — I  assure  you  it  is  as  good  as  a  play.  Under  the  toga 
of  their  unaccustomed  dignity  the  outline  of  the  little  German 
bourgeois  is  everywhere  visible.  They  evidently  consider  this 
inflated  demeanour  a  necessary  part  of  their  new  role  as  mem- 
bers of  the  great  French  Republic.  Yet  I  find  many  evidences 
of  deep  attachment  to  the  old  reigning  house.  An  old  lock- 
smith came  the  other  day  to  mend  my  travelling  trunk,  and 
when  he  read  the  name  on  it  tears  came  into  the  good 
creature's  eyes  and  there  was  no  more  word  of  "  citoyenne,"  I 
assure  you.  He  at  once  addressed  me  by  my  title  and  asked 

158 


DESCRIPTION  OF  STRASBURG.  159 

with  profound  emotion  for  details  of  the  last  days  of  our  poor 
King.  And  this  after  eight  years !  I  was  touched  to  the  heart. 

I  travelled  here  by  way  of  Mainz,  which  city  I  found  still 
practically  in  a  state  of  siege,  all  the  magisterial  and  police 
duties  being  performed  by  young  French  officers.  The  next 
morning  I  had  a  long  walk  round  the  poor  bombarded  town 
and  my  guide  pointed  out  great  rubbish  heaps  which  had  once 
been  stately  residences,  and  spoke  with  shuddering  horror  of 
the  past  war  which  cost  Mainz  and  its  neighbourhood  alone 
150,000  lives. 

I  proceeded  on  my  journey  and  arrived  here  the  day  be- 
fore yesterday  in  brilliantly  clear  weather,  putting  up  at  the 
Hold  de  I'Esprit,  where  they  gave  me  a  charming  room  over- 
looking a  sort  of  quay  and  a  busy  bridge. 

Yesterday  I  viewed  the  sights  of  the  town,  my  first 
thought  being  of  course  for  the  Minster,  but  as  the  weather 
was  very  windy  and  I  did  not  wish  to  forego  the  view  from  the 
platform,  I  put  off  the  visit  till  to-day  and  made  my  guide 
show  me  the  town  instead. 

The  magnificent  monument  which  Louis  XV.  erected  to 
the  Marechal  de  Saxe  in  the  Lutheran  Church  of  St.  Thomas 
is  really  beautiful.  The  Marshal,  in  full  armour,  descends  the 
steps  towards  the  tomb,  which  Death  opens  for  him  with  an 
imperious  hand,  holding  an  empty  hour-glass  before  him.  Be- 
hind him  stands  La  France,  who  tries  to  hold  him  back — al- 
together a  wonderful  piece  of  sculpture.  By  a  miracle  this 
monument  has  escaped  the  destructive  fury  of  the  Terrorists 
and  is  absolutely  intact. 

Otherwise  the  men  of  the  Terror  have  simply  raged  here, 
one  monster  in  particular,  called  Schreiber,  having  played 
the  part  of  a  local  Robespierre.  Not  content  with  the  au- 


l6o  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

thorised  guillotine  in  the  Market  Place,  he  constructed  a  so- 
called  "  guillotine  ambulante  "  with  which  he  drove  about  the 
country,  and  by  this  means  butchered  thousands  of  people 
who  might  otherwise  have  escaped  him.  Finally,  however,  a 
like  fate  overtook  him;  they  dragged  the  infamous  wretch  to 
Paris  and  put  him  to  death  by  his  favourite  instrument. 

Here  too  the  population  seems  in  the  last  degree  dispirited, 
and  at  every  turn  you  hear  groans  and  lamentations  of  "  Ah, 
how  different  it  all  used  to  be!"  Many  emigrants  have  re- 
turned, but  almost  destitute.  The  Republic  has  few  friends 
here  outside  the  usual  mob,  and  all  look  longingly  to  Paris  and 
the  First  Consul,  devoutly  hoping  that  he  will  put  an  .end  to 
this  state  of  things  by  placing  one  of  the  Bourbons  or  even 
himself  on  the  Throne  of  St.  Louis. 

This  morning  I  was  able  to  pay  my  visit  to  the  venerable 
Cathedral,  the  most  magnificent  piece  of  architecture  after 
Westminster  Abbey  I  have  ever  seen.  A  dim  mysterious  light 
filtered  through  the  splendid  stained  windows  of  the  clerestory 
making  a  sort  of  magical  gloom  in  the  lofty  nave.  There  is  an 
immense  stained  window  at  the  end  of  the  chancel,  and  just 
as  I  entered  the  Cathedral  the  sun  shone  through  it  casting  a 
broad  band  of  jewelled  light  upon  the  pavement.  The  beauti- 
ful marble  Altar,  the  .cupola,  and  the  famous  Clock  were  all  de- 
molished by  the  Jacobins,  and  the  fragments  are  still  lying 
about  the  Cathedral. 

I  next  mounted  the  360  steps  to  the  third  platform,  from 
whence  I  enjoyed  the  most  superb  view  you  can  imagine,  and 
I  longed  to  have  you  at  my  side.  The  town  lay  spread  out 
beneath  me;  further  off  I  caught  the  sparkle  of  the  Rhine  and 
the  bridge  across  to  Kehl ;  towards  the  east  the  long  range  of 


THE  WINDMILL  TELEGRAPH.  l6l 

hills  and  close  at  hand  a  mass  of  high-gabled  roofs  with  storks' 
nests  on  many  of  them. 

From  here  too  I  could  follow  the  line  of  telegraph,  about 
which  our  good  pastor  read  to  us  a  while  ago  and,  its  first  sta- 
tion being  in  the  tower  above  me,  I  determined  to  go  and 
inspect  it.  So  I  clambered  up  the  additional  230  steps  into 
the  tower,  and  the  official  in  charge  had  the  goodness  to  ex- 
plain the  matter  to  me.  It  turns  out  to  be  somewhat  different 
from  the  account  in  the  Aschaffenburg  newspaper.  There  are 
42  of  these  windmill-like  telegraph  stations  between  Strasburg 
and  Montmartre  near  Paris,  and  supposing  each  attendant  to 
be  at  his  appointed  post,  one  can  send  a  message  from  here  to 
Paris  in  45  minutes.  The  official  was  very  anxious  that  I 
should  await  the  answer  to  a  message  he  had  sent  off  half  an 
hour  before,  but  I  did  not  care  particularly  to  do  so,  and  thank- 
ing him  kindly  for  his  trouble  I  made  my  way  down  the  many 
steps  and  returned  to  the  lower  world. 

Down  in  the  Place  the  guard  was  just  being  changed  and 
I  stopped  to  watch  the  military  spectacle.  But  what  a  con- 
trast to  the  mounting  of  the  guard  in  Berlin  which  we  once 
watched  together!  The  drummers — all  half-grown  boys — 
chased  one  another  up  and  down  the  front,  while  the  soldiers 
were  being  pushed  into  place.  The  officers  wore  cravats  of 
every  conceivable  colour  and  the  soldiers'  uniforms  were  ill- 
fitting  and,  moreover,  no  two  alike.  There  was  no  question  of 
military  discipline,  and  if  one  of  them  sneezed  the  rest  ex- 
claimed in  chorus,  "  &  votre  sante,  mon  brave! " 

Actual  insubordination,  however,  is  very  severely  pun- 
ished, so  my  guide  informed  me,  and  my  host  told  me  that 
for  an  officer  to  pay  a  visit  in  uniform  was  considered  a  grave 
breach  of  good  form.  Therefore,  naturally,  none  of  them  wear 


1 62  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

uniform  unless  they  are  compelled,  seeing  that  it  closes  the 
doors  of  the  best  society  to  them.  However,  I  daresay  this 
will  presently  be  changed,  since  Bonaparte  never  appears 
otherwise  than  in  his  general's  uniform. 

I  was  undecided  whether  to  remain  here  for  the  New 
Year's  festivities  (new  style!)  or  not,  but  as  it  began  to  rain 
heavily,  nobody  knew  whether  there  would  be  any  fete  at  all. 
So  I  shall  proceed  calmly  on  my  way;  besides,  I  have  had 
more  than  enough  of  this  republican  nonsense,  though  I  fear 
it  will  grow  worse  the  nearer  I  get  to  Paris. 

My  love  to  you  and  yours  and  our  dear  friends.     You 
know  that  my  thoughts  are  ever  with  you  all. 
In  faithful  friendship 

Your  CECILE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THIRD  LETTER. 

CHALONS,  gth  Brutnaire. 

Only  a  day  or  two  more,  my  Annaliebe,  and  my  letters 
will  be  dated  from  Paris.  Your  sweet  words  reached  me  just 
before  leaving  Strasburg.  Yes,  my  dearest  heart,  what  have 
we  two  not  had  to  renounce  in  parting  from  one  another! 
And  the  written  word  is  so  poor  a  substitute  for  the  perfect 
interchange  of  sympathy  in  our  two  hearts.  How  sweet  of 
you  to  set  up  a  little  "  cercle  "  for  the  reading  of  my  letters. 
But  the  best  part  of  them — my  feeling  for  you — you  must 

keep  to  yourself. 

******* 

Well,  I  shall  soon  be  at  the  end  of  my  journey — to-mor- 
row, perhaps.  Nor  shall  I  be  sorry,  for  the  weather  has 
broken  and  it  is  not  exactly  entertaining  to  jolt  along  all  day 
in  the  streaming  rain  with  the  carriage  closed. 

I  changed  horses  at  Stiitzheim,  a  very  pretty  and  well-built 
town.  But  what  a  lovely  country  Alsace  is  altogether,  and 
the  people — especially  the  girls  in  their  picturesque  costumes 
with  the  great  black  bows  on  their  dark  hair — amazingly 
handsome.  As  I  neared  Zabern  the  landscape  grew  yet  more 
beautiful,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  which  belongs  to 

the  Bishop  of  Strasburg,  lies  the  Chateau  of  Rohan  Gue- 

163 


164  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

menee  surrounded  by  its  splendid  park  destroyed  during  the 
Revolution.  I  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  have  a  peep 
at  the  place  where  my  arch-enemy,  the  Cardinal,  passed  the 
years  of  his  exile,  and  persuaded  my  postilion  to  make  a 
slight  detour  for  that  purpose. 

It  was  a  mournful  sight!  Everything  destroyed,  the 
grounds  laid  waste ;  the  outer  walls  of  the  chateau  still  stand- 
ing, but  the  whole  interior  burned  out.  Nothing  remained 
to  testify  to  the  glory  and  splendour  of  the  ancient  race  with 
their  haughty  motto: 

roi  ne  puis, 
prince  ne  daigne, 
Rohan  suis. 

Time  was  when  all  the  country  round,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  belonged  to  the  Rohans,  and  where  are  all  their 
great  possessions  now?  Gone  from  them,  every  rood,  and 
the  Rohans  themselves  who  bore  the  proud  title  of  "  cousin 
du  roi "  have  dwindled  down  to  the  despicable  Cardinal — the 
last  of  his  great  line.  They  tell  me  that  he  is  still  alive  some- 
where in  Germany — at  Ettenheim — where,  I  believe,  he  has 
some  property. 

I  turned  from  the  depressing  scene  and  pursued  my  jour- 
ney through  the  gorgeously  tinted  woods  to  Pfalzburg,  where 
I  intended  putting  up  for  the  night. 

I  have  had  hard  work  accustoming  myself  once  more  to 
the  difference  in  the  meal  times  here  in  France — more  espe- 
cially the  lateness  of  the  dinner  hour — 7  o'clock.  As  I  find 
it  dull  to  take  my  meals  alone  in  my  room  and  it  amuses  me 
to  listen  to  the  conversation  going  on  around  me,  I  usually 
join  the  table  d'hote. 


AT  THE   "VILLE  DE  METZ."  165 

Thus  here,  at  the  "  Ville  de  Metz,"  I  dined  in  the  general 
room  and  was  much  diverted  by  the  conversation  of  some 
young  officers  of  the  426.  Regiment  of  the  line,  at  present 
quartered  here,  who  were  freely  discussing  "  le  roi  Bona- 
parte." Bottles  of  the  red  "  vin  du  pays  " — not  unlike  Bur- 
gundy— stood  about  uncorked  upon  the  table,  and  these  "  sous- 
lieutenants  "  drank  it  out  of  large  tumblers.  This  may  well  have 
added  something  to  their  high  spirits,  for  they  abused  the  Re- 
public roundly,  heedless  of  the  presence  of  other  guests,  and 
made  themselves  extremely  merry  at  the  expense  of  Bona- 
parte's two  colleagues,  whom  they  were  pleased  to  dub  "  the 
Shadows."  Barras,  too,  came  off  very  badly  and  they  de- 
clared that  he  should  have  been  made  to  disgorge  his  stolen 
millions.  For  the  rest,  their  opinion  of  the  Vicomte  tallied 
in  most  respects  with  what  Edmee  wrote  about  him. 

Not  that  messieurs  les  lieutenants  spared  their  idolised 
Bonaparte  either,  and  with  the  calmest  assurance  retailed  the 
most  extraordinary  stories  of  his  private  life. 

The  name  of  a  certain  Madame  Rose  occurred  with  great 
frequency  who,  before  making  the  General's  acquaintance, 
had  had  numberless  liaisons — had  been  the  mistress  of  Gene- 
ral Hoche  for  one.  In  any  case,  they  said,  Bonaparte's  con- 
nection with  her  had  distinctly  been  an  after-thought  on  his 
side,  for  he  had  first  paid  court  to  the  wife  of  the  deputy 
Ricord;  had  tried  to  marry  a  wealthy  old  theatre  manageress, 
Madame  Montarsier;  had  been  rejected  by  Madame  Tallien, 
and  had  finally  fallen  into  the  clutches  of  the  fair  Rose.  I  could 
not  think,  at  first,  to  whom  they  could  possibly  be  alluding,  till 
it  suddenly  occurred  to  me  that  Madame  Bonaparte's  maiden 
name,  before  she  married  the  Marquis  de  Beauharnais,  was 
Josephine  Rose  Tascher  de  la  Pagerie.  Bonaparte  was  the 


i66  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

first  to  call  her  Josephine,  that  name  being  more  to  his  liking 
and  also,  no  doubt,  because  the  lady's  reputation  as  Rose  was 
decidedly  not  as  dewy  fresh  as  he  could  have  wished. 

The  First  Consul  seems  altogether  to  have  a  weakness 
for  fine  sounding  names.  Latterly,  all  his  decrees  have  been 
signed  Napoleon,  which  he  evidently  prefers  to  his  surname. 

I  sat  half-hidden  behind  a  great  vase  of  flowers  listening, 
I  must  confess,  with  great  interest  to  all  this  gossip,  and  thus 
I  gathered  a  good  many  details  of  Bonaparte's  life  which  were 
quite  new  to  me. 

It  so  happened  that  one  of  the  party — a  little,  wiry,  black- 
eyed  creature  whom  they  called  "  Prezzo  " — was  a  Corsican, 
attracted  to  France,  no  doubt,  by  the  fame  of  his  great  com- 
patriot, and  he  had  much  to  say  of  the  Consul's  home  in 
Ajaccio.  He  described  the  unpretentious  little  house  in  which 
the  advocate  Carlo  Buonaparte  used  to  live  with  his  beauti- 
ful wife  Laetitia  who  came  of  the  family  of  the  Counts  Collate. 
Here  she  bore  him  four  sons  and  three  daughters  whom  the 
little  officer  alluded  to  familiarly  by  name.  These  were  Giu- 
seppo,  Napolione,  Luciano,  Luiggi,  Gierolamo,  and  the  beau- 
tiful sisters  Elisa,  Paolina,  and  Caroline.  He  then  went  on  to 
speak  of  the  vendetta  which  had  existed  between  the  Buona- 
parte and  the  Pozzo  di  Borgo  for  centuries  and  had  claimed 
many  a  victim;  indeed,  he  declared  it  was  still  in  full  force 
and  that  Napoleon  had  kept  up  a  feud  with  the  youngest  Pozzo 
since  boyhood. 

From  all  they  said,  I  gathered  that  these  young  officers 
regarded  the  General  himself  with  adoring  enthusiasm  but 
felt  no  great  admiration  for  his  family.  They  spoke  of  the 
eldest  brother,  Joseph,  as  being  Inspccteur  de  vivres  at  Mar- 
seilles, where  he  had  married  a  wealthy  but  fearfully  ugly 


DETAILS  Ofc"  THE  BONAPARTE   FAMILY.  l6; 

Mademoiselle  Boyer;  Lucian  was  Controleur  de  fourrage  at 
the  little  town  of  St.  Maximin  and  had  married  the  daughter 
of  a  rich  wine-merchant  called  Clary,  who  refused  a  younger 
daughter — Desiree — to  Napoleon  on  the  ground  that  "one 
Bonaparte  was  quite  enough  in  his  family." 

I  have  no  doubt  that  a  goodly  proportion  of  these  stories 
was  pure  gossip  and  scandal,  but  you  know  that  our  learned 
Dr.  Vultejus  is  fond  of  saying  "  semper  aliquid  hceret"  and  so 
it  probably  is  in  this  case.  Commend  me,  please,  to  my  revered 
tutor  and  tell  him  that  his  Latin  lessons  will  never  be  for- 
gotten by  me.  A  day  or  two  ago  I  had  a  Cure  for  my  neigh- 
bour at  the  table  d'hote  and  you  should  have  seen  his 
astonished  face  when  I  suddenly  joined  in  a  Latin  disputation 
he  was  carrying  on  with  a  confrater! 

However,  to  return  to  my  gay  young  lieutenants — I  would 
have  listened  much  longer  to  their  gossip,  but  as  nearly  all  the 
other  guests  were  gone  and  the  stories  began  to  be  a  little  too 
highly  spiced  even  for  my  eight  and  thirty  years,  I  thought  I 
had  better  retire  from  the  scene.  So  I  left  the  gentlemen  to 
their  confidences  and  went  to  my  own  room. 

And  this  is  the  family  of  the  future  reigning  House  in 
France,  these  are  the  successors  of  the  Bourbons  who  ruled 
over  us  for  a  thousand  years!  Is  the  exchange  worth  all  the 
blood  that  has  flowed  to  effect  it?  What,  I  wonder,  would 
Rousseau,  Diderot,  and  the  other  Apostles  of  Freedom  say  to 
this  as  the  ultimate  fruit  of  the  Revolution  which  was  to  end 
in  universal  Liber  te,  Fraternite,  Egalite? 

What  would  they  and  the  crew  of  pamphletiers,  who  so  be- 
smirched my  poor  Queen  and  the  whole  Court,  who,  with 
their  high-sounding  phrases,  would  have  you  believe  they  were 
going  to  create  a  very  Heaven  on  earth  for  us  poor  mortals 


1 68  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

— what  would  they  have  said  to  this  Court  of  the  near  future, 
to  this  Dictatorship  which  Bonaparte  already  exercises  over 
the  whole  nation  ?  Surely  they  must  have  cried,  "  Tant  de 
bruit  pour  cette  omelette!  "  And  what  has  this  nation  yet  be- 
fore it?  Possibly  much  glory,  but,  most  assuredly,  a  servitude 
unparalleled  in  its  history  and  which  is  even  now  making  itself 
felt  at  every  turn. 

I  was  very  tired  by  the  long  drive  that  day  and  crept  with 
joy  into  my  beautiful  bed,  there  to  rest  from  my  fatigues. 

In  one  respect,  my  dear  thoughtful,  industrious  little  Ger- 
man hausfrau,  I  must  say  you  beloved  Prussians  are  behind 
my  country  people,  and  that  is  in  the  arrangement  of  your 
beds.  Sweetly  and  comfortably  as  I  slept  on  your  beautiful 
home-plucked  feather-bed,  a  French  one  is  still  better,  and 
even  during  the  years  I  have  been  away  they  are  vastly  im- 
proved. 

Now  let  me  describe  one  to  you  and  I  think  you  will  agree 
with  me  when  you  compare  it  with  the  cramped  little  German 
beds,  and  you  must  not  be  angry  with  me  if,  for  once,  I  find 
something  more  to  my  taste  here  than  in  dear  delightful  old 
Kalbe. 

To  begin  with  the  beds  are  all  very  high,  perhaps  three  or 
four  feet  from  the  floor  and  wide  enough  for  two  people.  Two 
thick  mattresses  are  laid  one  on  the  top  of  the  other;  there 
is  a  large  round  pillow  called  a  "  traversin  "  and  on  it  a  smaller 
soft  oreiller  and  one  or  two  eiderdown  covers,  very  light  and 
generally  quilted  with  silk.  The  bed  stands  on  casters  and  can 
be  rolled  into  the  middle  of  the  room  to  be  made  and  has  a 
canopy  over  it.  An  hour  before  bedtime  a  warming-pan  is 
placed  in  it  to  assure  the  absolute  dryness  of  the  linen. — There, 


FRENCH  BEDS.  169 

my  love,  now  arrange  a  bed  like  that  and  write  me  quickly  how 
you  like  it. 

I  slept  profoundly  and,  the  next  morning,  was  in  excellent 
trim  to  continue  my  journey  by  way  of  Saarbourg,  reaching 
Chalons  yesterday.  I  went  to  look  at  the  beautiful  Chateau 
in  which  my  old  friend  the  Bishop  of  Clermont  Tonnerre — 
now,  as  you  know,  in  Vienna — used  to  live.  Both  it  and  the 
Cathedral,  one  of  the  finest  in  France,  were  destroyed  by  those 
Vandals  of  Jacobins.  My  royalist  host  tells  me  that  they 
actually  sold  the  magnificent  organ,  a  chef  d'ceuvre  which  had 
cost  over  a  hundred  thousand  francs,  for  two  thousand! 

This,  my  Annaliebe,  is  my  last  halting-place  before  Paris. 
I  think  I  shall  have  a  good  rest  here  and  then  do  the  remain- 
ing journey  at  one  stretch. 

I  find  the  people  here  terribly  ugly,  or  has  my  taste 
changed  in  the  ten  years  since  I  left  France?  I  can  only  say 
that  since  Nancy  I  have  not  seen  a  single  pretty  face. 

My  next  letter,  then,  will  be  from  Paris.  What  has  the 
great  city  in  store  for  me?  I  look  forward  almost  with  terror 
to  the  impressions  and  recollections  that  are  bound  to  crowd 
in  upon  me  there.  Put  yourself  in  my  place — you  know  all 
I  endured  and  all  I  lost  there! 

Adieu  for  to-day,  my  Annaliebe,  dear  companion  of  my 
soul. — Whatever  happens  I  shall  ever  be  mindful  of  your 
loving  kindness  and  the  many  words  of  comfort  you  have  be- 
stowed upon  me. 

Yours  now  and  always, 

CECILE. 

With  regard  to  the  Desiree  Clary  to  whom  the  Baroness 
alludes  in  the  foregoing  letter,  she  married  General  Berna- 


1 70  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

dotte,  afterwards  King  of  Sweden.  I  very  much  doubt  if  the 
version  of  the  story  told  by  the  officers  at  Pfalzburg  is  the 
right  one.  From  other  sources,  for  instance  the  Memoirs 
of  Barras  and  those  of  Constant,  it  would  rather  appear  that 
it  was  Bonaparte  who  forsook  Desiree,  though  she  loved  him 
sincerely,  in  order  to  marry  Madame  Josephine,  the  union 
with  whom  promised  him  greater  advantages.  Constant  tells 
us  that  Napoleon  often  reproached  himself  for  this  desertion 
and  did  his  utmost  to  make  it  good  to  Madame  Bernadotte 
by  giving  her  splendid  presents — Madame  Recamier  says  the 
same — and  that  he  showed  himself  so  lenient  to  Bernadotte's 
many  faults  of  incapacity,  not  to  say  disloyalty,  because,  we 
are  told,  of  his  consideration  for  his  old  love.  By  a  strange 
ruling  of  History,  of  all  the  Queens  by  the  grace  of  Napoleon, 
Desiree  Clary,  the  wine-merchant's  daughter,  was  the  only 
one  to  retain  her  crown.  She  was  the  mother  of  the  present 
reigning  House  of  Sweden. 

As  to  the  vendetta  between  the  houses  of  Buonaparte  and 
Pozzo  di  Borgo,  it  apparently  exists  to  the  present  day.  Not 
long  ago,  a  descendant  of  Napoleon's  implacable  enemy 
bought  up  the  ruins  of  the  Royal  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  which 
had  been  Napoleon's  residence,  and  with  them  built  himself 
a  lordly  castle  overlooking  Ajaccio.  Carved  in  the  stone 
above  the  portal  stands  the  inscription : 

"  Built  to  the  glory  of  his  country 
From  the  Ruins  of  the  Tuileries.'* 

Below,  in  the  city,  stands  Napoleon's  statue;  there  the 
great  Emperor's  name  and  his  glorious  deeds  are  held  in  un- 
dying reverence,  while  the  remodelled  palace  of  the  Tuileries 


THE  MUTABILITY  OF  FATE.  1^1 

looks  down  upon  it  from  the  heights — the  palace  from  which 
the  Bonapartes  were  obliged  to  fly;  which,  collapsing  behind 
them,  buried  the  Napoleonic  Legend  beneath  its  ruins.  Oh, 
strange  mutability  of  Fate  I 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
FOURTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  22d  Brumaire, 

Hotel  Bateillere. 

Herewith,  my  Annaliebe,  my  first  letter  from  Paris,  from 
this  great  Babylon  on  which  the  eyes  of  well-nigh  the  whole 
world  are  fixed. 

The  high  road  from  Chalons  here  was  more  like  the  wide 
street  of  a  faubourg  than  a  country  chaussce;  small  towns, 
villas,  and  smiling  hamlets  succeeding  one  another  along  it  in 
an  unbroken  chain.  I  arrived  at  the  barriere  at  5  o'clock, 
showed  my  passport,  and  with  a  flourish  of  my  postilion's 
horn  drove  into  Paris. 

The  last  posto  to  the  capital  is  charged  at  double  the  usual 
rate;  it  used  to  be  called  the  "  poste  royale,"  now  it  has  no 
name,  but  the  charge  is  still  the  same. 

How  enormously  a  city  can  alter  in  ten  years!  I  assure 
you  that,  at  the  first  glance,  I  did  not  recognise  my  old  Paris 
in  the  least.  The  suburbs  looked  quite  different,  the  streets 
are  widened,  and  new  houses  and  palaces  have  arisen  on  every 
side.  Only  when  I  approached  the  centre  of  the  town  did 
I  recognise  with  a  shudder  the  old  familiar  streets  and  squares, 
and  the  whole  picture  as  I  had  seen  them  last  rose  before  my 

eyes. 

172 


CECILE  IN  PARIS.  173 

You  were  quite  right,  my  Annaliebe,  in  advising  me  to 
give  up  my  idea  of  surprising  the  Duchess  and  rather  to  an- 
nounce my  intended  arrival.  Surprises  are  so  seldom  success- 
ful and  this  was  no  exception,  for  when  I  drove  up  to  the 
Palace  I  knew  so  well  of  old  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain 
I  found,  to  my  chagrin,  that  its  dear  mistress  was  not  there. — 
Madame  la  duchesse,  I  was  told,  had  gone  to  her  estates  in 
Lorraine.  I  was  comforted  by  the  assurance  that  she  would 
return  in  a  few  days ;  but,  for  the  moment,  I  was  really  at  a 
loss  where  to  go.  However,  I  soon  made  up  my  mind  and 
drove  on  here  to  the  Hotel  grange  bateillere,  which  I  had  heard 
very  favourably  spoken  of.  There  are  two  sides  to  every 
question,  and  I  was  not  averse  in  this  case  to  have  the  first 
few  days  to  myself  and  thus  be  at  liberty  to  revisit  the  scenes 
of  my  youth  undisturbed.  I  obtained  very  pleasant  quarters, 
although  the  house  was  particularly  full,  the  Russian  Am- 
bassador, Prince  Kalitschef,  and  his  suite  occupying  the  entire 
bel  etage.  A  contingent  of  the  garde  consulaire  is  on  duty 
down-stairs  as  his  guard  of  honour,  and  two  sentinels  in  high 
bearskin  caps  pace  solemnly  up  and  down  before  the  hotel 
door. 

My  suite  of  apartments  consists  of  three  rooms  with  a 
charming  outlook  on  to  the  Boulevard.  To  be  sure  it  costs 
me  50  francs  a  day,  but  everything  is  dreadfully  dear  here, 
and  I  must  just  put  up  with  it  for  a  few  days.  My  other  ex- 
penses are,  sad  to  say,  very  high  too ;  my  valet  de  place  gets 
4  francs  a  day,  and  the  carriage,  which  is  absolutely  indispen- 
sable, costs  me  15.  The  fiacres,  on  the  other  hand,  are  very 
cheap,  only  30  sous  the  drive,  but  they  are  not  allowed  to 
drive  in  under  the  hotel  porte  cochere,  and  no  valet  de  place 
would  consider  it  compatible  with  his  dignity  to  stand  behind 


LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

one,  so  I  am  perforce  obliged  to  use  the  hotel  carriages.  All 
the  prices  have  risen,  in  fact,  since  I  was  here,  a  loge  at  the 
Theatre  frangais  costing  6  francs  30  sous,  and  one  at  the  Italian 
Opera,  Bonaparte's  favourite  theatre,  even  2  francs  more. 
Dress,  too,  has  become  quite  ruinous;  imagine,  to  give  you 
one  instance  among  many,  that  I  had  to  pay  19  francs  for  a 
pair  of  silk  stockings  to-day!  I  do  not  think  one  could  live 
here  under  1500  or  2000  francs  a  month. 

And  what  a  change,  too,  in  our  manners  and  customs! 
In  my  day  it  would  have  been  an  unheard  of  thing  for  a  lady 
of  position  to  be  living  alone  like  this  in  an  hotel,  and  now 
nobody  thinks  twice  about  it;  indeed,  there  are  several  quite 
young  Miladies  from  London  here  in  just  the  same  circum- 
stances. 

After  breakfast  I  take  a  walk  through  the  fine  boulevards 
close  by  and  amuse  myself  by  watching  these  light-hearted 
Parisians.  No  visible  traces  remain  of  the  sea  of  blood  and 
horror  they  have  waded  through,  and  you  never  believe  this 
laughing,  good-natured  populace  capable  of  the  monstrous 
cruelties  they  committed  so  short  a  time  ago.  They  are  but 
children  who  repeat  parrot-like  what  they  are  told.  The 
fiends  who  once  yelled  death  and  destruction  to  the  upper 
classes  have  slunk  away  into  the  dark  hells  from  which  they 
came  forth,  and  the  people  have  forgotten  that  they  ever  lis- 
tened to  them — till  the  next  time. 

The  First  Consul  and  the  never-ending  praise  of  his  mili- 
tary genius  is  the  theme  of  every  discourse.  His  victories 
have  effaced  all  recollection  of  the  late  defeats  in  Egypt. 

I  sent  for  a  list  of  the  plays  going  on  at  present  and,  if 
you  will  believe  me,  they  have  never  ceased  acting  during 
all  these  terrible  years — even  during  the  Terror — in  fifteen 


AT  THE  THEATRE.  1 75 

theatres!  Now  there  are  four  and  twenty  in  all.  I  shall  go 
to  the  Theatre  Feydeau  this  evening,  where  "  Le  Comte  Albert 
et  sa  suite  "  and  "  Palma  "  are  being  given.  I  am  going  chiefly 
to  see  Madame  Dugazon,  who  now  plays  the  part  of  a  mother, 
and  I  remember  her  fifteen  years  ago  as  the  jeune  premiere. 


II   P.M. 

I  have  just  come  from  the  theatre,  my  Annaliebe,  and  will 
finish  my  letter  before  going  to  rest.  It  was  a  very  brilliant 
scene  and  the  loges  and  parquet  were  filled  with  a  gaily-dressed 
audience.  Nevertheless,  neither  during  the  performance  nor 
in  the  intervals  when  everybody  promenaded  up  and  down  the 
salons  did  I  see  one  familiar  face.  In  these  salons  there  are 
great  buffets  filled  with  every  kind  of  refreshment,  and  waiters 
rushed  about,  even  into  the  boxes,  crying,  "  Qui  vent  de  pouch, 
orgeat,  glaces  ou  sorbet?  "  The  acting  was  good,  but  the  pieces 
very  dull  and  pointless. 

When  I  went  into  the  salon  after  the  second  Act,  I  noticed 
a  tall  elegant-looking  man  in  uniform  conversing  with  a  group 
of  elderly  officers.  He  might  have  been  about  35  and  his  uni- 
form proclaimed  him  to  be  a  General.  The  box-keeper  in- 
formed me  that  he  was  General  Leclerc,  the  brother-in-law  of 
the  First  Consul.  I  was  much  interested  to  see  the  famous 
General,  the  same,  you  remember,  who  on  the  i8th  Brumaire 
two  years  ago  dissolved,  with  Murat's  assistance,  the  Council 
of  the  Five  Hundred  at  St.  Cloud  and  by  Bonaparte's  orders 
shouted  to  his  soldiers — En  avant,  mes  grenadiers,  au  nom  du 
General  Bonaparte,  le  conscil  Ugislatif  est  dissous! 

Bonaparte  has  really  General  Leclerc  to  thank  for  the  suc- 
cessful issue  of  that  coup  d'etat,  for  things  might  have  turned 


i;  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

out  very  differently,  and  his  own  life  hung  in  the  balance  at 
the  moment. 

So  I  had  another  good  look  at  the  man  with  his  sharply 
cut  profile,  great  eagle  nose,  and  flashing  blue  eyes  who  played 
so  important  a  hand  in  the  making  of  this  country's  history. 

However,  chere  amie,  it  grows  late  and  I  will  finish  this 
rambling  epistle.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Edmee  will  soon  re- 
turn and  then  I  can  go  to  her.  I  am  anxious,  too,  to  take  the 
first  steps  towards  accomplishing  my  mission  here.  I  shall 
learn  from  the  Duchess  whether  to  begin  by  paying  a  visit  to 
Talleyiand,  or  what  other  means  I  had  best  adopt  to  gain  an 
audience  with  the  Consul.  I  look  forward  to  it  all  with  dread 
and  shrinking,  but  I  will  face  it  courageously;  it  is  my  duty. 
I  know  that  your  loving  thoughts  and  prayers  go  with  me. 

And  now  good  night,  dear  heart,  I  must  try  to  get  a  little 
rest  in  spite  of  the  noisy  street  outside  my  windows.  In  what 
a  turmoil  do  I  live  now  compared  to  the  soothing  peace  which 
surrounded  me  in  your  dear  home!  I  will  write  again  in  a  day 
or  two.  Recall  me  to  your  good  husband  and  all  my  friends. 

Ever  your  truest  friend, 

CECILE. 

Touching  General  Leclerc,  the  Baroness  must  have  been 
mistaken  in  thinking  the  gentleman  she  noticed  was  he,  for 
the  husband  of  Bonaparte's  eldest  sister  was  at  that  time  in 
St.  Domingo,  whither  the  Consul  had  sent  him  with  an  expedi- 
tion. The  Baroness  especially  mentions  this  fact  in  one  of 
her  later  letters.  From  the  description  she  gives,  the  officer 
was  probably  General  Berthier,  who  was  in  the  Chasseurs  and 
was  certainly  in  Paris  at  the  time  she  writes. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
FIFTH   LETTER. 

PARIS,  8th  Frimaire,  Year  X. 
Palais  Brancas. 

I  have  been  somewhat  longer  in  writing  to  you  again,  my 
Annaliebe,  than  I  intended,  but  you  will  see  by  the  heading 
of  my  letter  that  Edmee  speedily  returned  and  that  I  am  now 
living  with  her.  As  you  may  imagine,  she  has  occupied  a  great 
deal  of  my  time,  so  that  I  had  little  or  no  leisure  for  writing. 
The  last  few  days  were  full  of  interest  and  excitement  and  I 
have  seen  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  people 
on  whom  the  eyes  of  all  Europe  are  fixed.  However,  I  will 
begin  to-day  by  telling  you  about  myself  and  my  new  sur- 
roundings. 

The  Palais  Brancas  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  Faubourg 
and  lies  quite  near  the  Seine  with  a  beautiful  park-like  gar- 
den behind  it  full  of  magnificent  old  trees  and  shady  avenues 
and  mythological  statues.  My  rooms,  which  are  in  the  upper 
storey,  are  quite  charming  and  furnished  a  la  Louis  quinze. 
On  one  of  the  walls  hangs  the  latest  portrait  of  the  Consul 
which  Edmee,  who,  as  you  know,  is  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  the  great  man,  has  put  there  with  a  view,  no  doubt,  to  ac- 
customing me  to  the  sight  of  the  All-powerful  One!  It  is  a 
copy  of  the  portrait  by  Greuze.  The  face  wears  a  totally  dif- 

177 


178  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

ferent  expression  from  any  picture  I  have  yet  seen  of  him; 
it  is  not  nearly  so  grim  and  stern.  Edmee  declares  it  is  ex- 
actly as  she  saw  him  last  at  a  soiree  at  Madame  Hamelin's,  a 
friend  of  Madame  Josephine's,  where  he  appeared  with  his 
step-daughter  Hortense,  to  whom  they  say  he  is  much  at- 
tached. 

On  the  frame  there  is  an  epigram  by  Thevenon: 

Qui  pretera  jamais  pour  ecrire  son  histoire 
Une  plume  a  Clio  ?  1'aile  de  la  victoire  ? 

I  think  you  will  admit  that  that  is  laying  on  the  homage 
thickly  enough ! 

When  I  woke  the  first  morning  the  sun  was  shining  into 
my  beautiful  bedroom  through  the  green  silk  curtains.  I 
jumped  out  of  bed  and  ran  to  the  window.  All  Paris  seemed 
spread  out  before  me  under  the  cheerful  rays  of  the  morning 
sun,  and  the  Seine  was  dotted  with  gaily  flagged  boats.  There 
was  the  Pont  Royal,  there  the  Louvre,  and  there  the  Tuileries 
where  HE  now  lives  who  has  stepped  into  Louis  XVI/s 
place.  I  could  see  the  two  sentinels  distinctly  as  they  marched 
backwards  and  forwards  in  front  of  the  palace.  I  leant  against 
the  window  and  gazed  out  at  the  dear  familiar,  never-forgotten 
scene  and  my  eyes  grew  dim  with  tears. 

As  I  stood  thus,  lost  in  recollection,  there  was  a  knock  at 
the  door.  I  hurriedly  slipped  back  into  bed,  and  there  stood 
Edmee  on  the  threshold  of  my  room.  I  had  only  seen  her  by 
lamplight  on  my  arrival  the  evening  before,  and  now  she 
looked  quite  different  in  the  blaze  of  golden  sunshine. 

She  embraced  me,  then  seated  herself  on  the  edge  of  the 
bed  arid  asked  wha,t  had  been  my  dreams  in  the  first  night  wv 


EDM£E.  179 

der  her  roof.  Tears  of  conflicting  emotions  rose  to  my  eyes 
as  I  looked  at  the  dear,  kindly  face  of  my  old  friend.  The 
years  had  left  some  footprints  of  course,  but  it  was  the  same 
sweet  bewitching  face  which  used  always  to  remind  me  of  my 
darling  Princess,  a  likeness  of  which  Edmee  had  ever  been 
proud;  besides,  she  has  a  right  to  the  Carignan  features,  being 
distantly  related  to  that  family. 

She  still  retains  the  elegant  figure  of  earlier  days,  and  the 
brightness  of  her  lovely  blue  eyes  is  undimmed.  Although  it 
was  still  early  she  wore  her  hair  slightly  powdered  and  curled 
a  la  Marie  Antoinette.  Altogether  her  appearance,  as  well  as 
the  exquisite  courtesy  of  her  manner,  are  quite  ancien  regime. 

You  can  imagine,  my  dear,  how  much  we  had  to  say  to  one 
another  after  nine  years ;  every  other  sentence  began  with  "  Do 
you  remember?  "  She  told  me  all  about  her  life  in  Gotha  and 
could  not  hear  enough  in  return  about  you  and  our  dear 
friends.  We  then  came  to  Talleyrand  and  my  proposed  visit 
to  him,  to  which  Edmee  urged  me  strongly  since,  despite  the 
Consul's  personal  antipathy  to  him,  he  is  very  powerful. 

However,  I  shall  have  to  defer  the  visit  for  some  time  yet, 
as  he  is  with  the  Consul  just  now  inspecting  some  factories 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Quentin.  By  the  way,  this  jour- 
ney of  Bonaparte's  may  result  in  a  great  change  in  present 

fashions,  the  Consul  having  promised  the  starving  factory 
hands  that  at  the  approaching  Peace  Fete  all  the  ladies  of  the 
Court  and  in  society  should  be  dressed  in  lawn  or  batiste  from 
the  St.  Quentin  factories,  instead  of  the  muslin  with  which 
England  is  flooding  Paris.  I  wonder  if  he  will  be  able  to  keep 
his  word?  It  remains  to  be  seen  what  Josephine  and  her 
autocratic  man-milliners  Messieurs  Despreaux  and  Leroy  will 
say  to  it. 


180  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

During  our  delightful  causeries  over  the  fire  in  my  room 
(so  like  those  I  enjoyed  with  you,  mon  ange!)  during  the  fol- 
lowing days,  Edmee  and  I  made  out  a  list  of  the  families  and 
persons  with  whom  I  had  formerly  been  acquainted,  and  also 
of  those  whose  influence  would  be  of  use  to  me  now.  Alas, 
against  how  many  names  had  I  not  to  put  a  cross!  Either 
they  had  been  guillotined  during  the  Terror  without  my 
knowing  it,  or  were  dead;  or  not  yet  returned,  or  come  to 
grief  in  exile. 

Nevertheless,  a  goodly  number  remained,  and  so  we  shall 
start  without  delay  upon  our  round  of  visits.  First,  however, 
Edmee  wants  to  show  me  Paris  as  it  is,  arid  we  will  reserve 
the  afternoons  for  our  friends. 


pth  Frimaire. — I  was  interrupted  yesterday  at  this  point 
and  will  now  resume  my  description  of  my  doings. 

At  12  o'clock  every  morning  we  drive  out  in  Edmee's 
"  berline,"  as  they  call  the  great  hooded  cabriolets  here,  and 
make  a  tour  of  the  town. 

Oh,  my  dear,  how  many  things  the  Revolution  has  altered, 
but  how  few  has  it  improved!  The  very  first  Place  we  drove 
through,  the  beautiful  "  Place  Royale,"  built  by  the  Due  de  la 
Feuillade  and  where  the  bronze  statue  of  Louis  XIV.  used 
to  stand  was  hardly  recognisable.  It  is  now  called  the 
"  Place  des  victoires,"  and  they  were  busy  putting  up  a  monu- 
ment which  the  Consul  has  raised  to  the  glory  of  the  army 
and  two  of  its  leaders — Kleber  and  Dessain.  He  laid  the  first 
stone  of  it  himself  a  few  weeks  ago. 

Then  we  drove  on  and  came  to  the  "  Place  de  la  con- 
corde  " — but  where  was  its  name  and  the  imposing  equestrian 


REVISITING  OLD  SCENES.  l8l 

statue  of  the  Well-Beloved  Louis  XV.?  It  has  become  the 
"  Place  de  la  Revolution,"  and  in  Louis'  place  on  the  pedestal 
is  a  dreadful  rose-pink,  half-naked  plaster  figure  of  "  Liberty." 
And,  indeed,  she  looks  it,  and  is  a  faithful  presentment  of  that 
misbegotten  daughter  of  the  Revolution. 

I  covered  my  eyes  with  a  trembling  hand  to  shut  out  the 
sight  of  the  spot  where  fell  the  head  of  my  blameless  King 
and  my  sweet  Queen.  For  it  was  here  they  set  up  the  hideous 
instrument,  on  one  of  the  most  lovely  spots  in  Paris  between 
the  Champs  Elysees  and  the  Tuileries  gardens. 

This  was  the  place  too  where  my  own  poor  head  would 
have  rolled  in  the  dust,  but  for  the  goodness  of  God  and  my 
lover's  heroic  bravery  at  the  last  moment. 

The  statue  of  the  Roi  soleil  on  the  Place  de  Vendome  is 
also  destroyed,  and  they  have  not  yet  decided  with  what 
monument  to  replace  it.* 

And  now  the  Place  de  Greve  with  all  its  memories  lay 
before  me.  I  have  told  you,  dearest,  that  it  was  here  my 
father  met  his  death,  and  you  can  imagine  with  what  emotion 
I  viewed  the  spot  where  he  laid  down  his  noble  life,  a  sacri- 
fice which  really  cost  me  both  my  parents,  for  it  broke  my 
mother's  heart. 

And  we  forlorn  survivors  of  those  who  were  guillotined 
have  not  even  a  spot  where  we  can  give  ourselves  up  to  the 
cult  of  our  fond  memories,  no  grave  that  we  can  deck  with 
flowers  and  water  with  our  tears.  Nothing  remains  to  us. 

*  Here,  in  1805,  Napoleon  erected  the  Vendome  Column  cast  from 
the  450  cannons  taken  in  the  battle  of  Austerlitz.  The  bas-reliefs  picture 
the  victories,  and  on  the  summit  stands  the  colossal  statue  of  the 
Emperor.  The  column  was  destroyed  by  the  Communists  in  1871  but 
has  since  been  re-erected. 


1 82  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

The  inhuman  monsters  flung  their  victims  into  one  common 
pit — some  say  in  the  catacombs,  others  in  the  Place  de  la 
Madeleine.  Quicklime  was  thrown  on  the  layers  of  corpses, 
then  more  bodies,  then  lime  again,  and  so  on  till  the  pit  was 
heaped.  Whenever  I  asked  any  one  where  the  victims  of  the 
guillotine  were  buried  in  those  days,  a  shrug  of  the  shoulder 
was  all  the  answer  I  received.  No  one  knew,  or  rather  would 
not  admit  that  they  knew.  It  looks  to  me,  in  fact,  as  if  the 
whole  nation  were  ashamed  to  be  reminded  of  those  years  of 
bestial  madness.  So  all  I  can  do  is  to  pray  for  both  my  be- 
loved parents  at  the  grave  of  the  one,  my  mother,  in  Pere  la 
Chaise. 

But  imagine,  Annaliebe,  what  a  horrible  story  Edmee  told 
me  apropos  of  this.  They  say  that  when  Robespierre's  fate 
at  last  overtook  him,  his  body  was  laid  in  the  coffin  of  King 
Louis.  And  how  do  you  think  they  justified  this  impious 
act?  By  saying  that  as  Robespierre  had  intended  marrying 
the  daughter  of  Louis  Capet  he  belonged  to  the  family  and 
ought  to  share  their  tomb! 

Can  one  imagine  a  greater  irony  of  History?  The  execu- 
tioner and  his  royal  victim  in  one  grave!  And  to  think  that 
for  years  this  grave  has  been  the  Mecca  of  all  true  and  faith- 
ful adherents  of  the  Royal  House ;  here  they  have  wept  bitter 
tears  over  the  memory  of  the  martyred  King,  and  all  the  while 
the  hateful  monster  of  the  Convention,  the  dastardly  ring- 
leader of  that  band  of  ruffians,  is  lying  in  that  sacred  spot. 
Oh,  it  will  not  bear  thinking  of — nor  does  it  seem  to  me 
credible  that  Robespierre  should  have  dared  to  raise  his  eyes 
to  our  little  Madame  de  France,  the  Princess  Maria  Theresa 
Charlotte,  and  to  have  conceived  the  idea  of  being  the  King's 
successor.  He  was  too  fanatical  a  Republican  for  that  and, 


VISIT  TO  THE  CEMETERY.  183 

in  spite  of  Edmee's  assurance  of  its  truth,  I  look  upon  the 
whole  story  as  a  fiction,  just  as  I  do  the  report  that  our  poor 
little  Dauphin  escaped  out  of  the  clutches  of  his  tormentors 
and  is  still  alive  somewhere. 

.  I  saw  the  sweet  boy  too  often  in  the  Temple  and  know 
how  ill  and  weak  he  was  then.  I  can  see  him  now  lying  in 
his  tiny  bed  that  was  hardly  larger  than  a  cradle.  His  poor 
little  knees  and  ankles  were  swollen  to  twice  their  natural 
size,  and  death  was  plainly  written  in  the  glazed  blue  eyes. 
No,  he  never  came  out  of  there  alive.  Therefore  the  story 
about  the  King's  grave  is  doubtless  an  invention  too ;  it  would 
be  too  hideous  an  outrage  upon  decency. 

I  begged  Edmee  to  spare  me  the  visit  to  the  Temple  which 
stood  next  upon  our  list — it  was  more  than  I  could  bear  that 
day,  so  we  drove  instead  to  my  dear  old  nurse,  providing  our- 
selves first  with  flowers  and  wreaths  for  my  mother's  grave 
which  she  was  to  point  out  to  us.  I  found  my  good  old 
Madeleine  wonderfully  hearty  still,  and  you  can  imagine  the 
joy  of  our  meeting.  She  knew  me  directly  and  was  as  pleased 
as  a  child  to  hear  how  happily  I  had  lived  in  Germany  and  had 
found  such  good  friends.  We  took  the  dear  old  woman  with 
us  and  drove  at  once  to  the  Cemetery.  The  grave  of  my  be- 
loved mother  was  soon  found  and  I  could  not  thank  old 
Madeleine  enough  for  the  devoted  care  she  had  expended  on 
it  during  all  these  years.  Tears  of  sorrow,  even  a  little  of  re- 
morse filled  my  eyes  as  I  knelt  there  and  prayed  silently  for 
both  my  dear  ones,  for  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  I  had 
perhaps  absorbed  myself  too  exclusively  in  my  love  for  my 
sweet  mistress,  neglecting  my  father  and  mother  thereby.  And 
now  it  was  too  late  to  repair  the  fault.  My  only  comfort  lay 


184  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

in  the  thought  that  there  had  never  been  one  moment's  dis- 
cord between  us,  never  an  unkind  look  or  word. 

After  covering  the  grave  with  flowers  we  returned  to  the 
Palais  Brancas,  keeping  Madeleine  with  us.  I  had,  of  course, 
much  to  tell  her  and  we  spoke  of  my  wonderful  escape  from 
death.  Madeleine  said  that  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  had 
been  greatly  alarmed  by  my  Hector's  bold  expedient  and  had 
subsequently  used  the  greatest  precautions  during  the  trans- 
port of  prisoners  through  the  streets. — Of  the  Vicomte 
d'Aubignac  neither  she  nor  Edmee  had  ever  heard  another 
word.  Like  my  Hector  he  must  have  fallen  a  victim  to  these 
infamous  butchers. 

Adieu,  my  dearest,  for  to-day.  I  can  write  no  more.  The 
many  and  varied  emotions  have  been  a  great  strain  upon  me. 
My  devoted  love  to  you  and  our  dear  mutual  friends.  Edmee 
begs  to  be  remembered  to  you. 

CECILE. 

I  enclose  a  copy  of  Robespierre's  death-warrant  for  your 
collection  of  rarities.  Edmee  is,  like  you,  an  ardent  collector 
of  historical  and  other  curiosities.  It  is  from  the  Moniteur  of 
the  6th  Fructidor,  Year  II. 


DECRETS  D'EXECUTION. 

1.  Maximilian  Robespierre,  age  de  35  ans,  ne  a  Arras,  ex-depute  du 

Convent  national. 

L'accuse  est  atteint  de  vouloir  mettre  au  trone  le  fils  de  Louis  Capet 
et  a  trahi  par  ceci  la  patrie.    II  est  convaincu. 

2.  L.  J.  R.  T.  Lavalette,  age  de  40  ans,  ne  a  Paris,  ex-noble,  ex-com- 

mandant de  1'armee  franchise  du  Nord  etc.  etc. 
(Ici  il  suit  les  noms  de:    Custine,  Houchard,  Barnare,  Baylly  et 
d'autres,  ensemble  12  numeros.) 


^ROBESPIERRE'S  DEATH-WARRANT.  185 

Sont  par  ceci  declares  tous  hors  de  la  loi  par  decrets  du  Convention 

du  9  et  10  Thermidor. 

Apres  qu'on  eut  constate  leur  identite,  ils  furent  delivres  au  bourreau 
pour  etre,  mis  a  la  mort  en  24  heures  a  la  place  de  la 
Revolution. 

Ont  ete  executes. 

Le  Directoire. 
Signc:  Barras,     Rewbell,     Lareveillere,      Carnot,     Sieyes. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
SIXTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  isth  Frimaire  X. 

A  thousand  thanks,  my  Annaliebe,  for  your  sweet  delight- 
ful letter.  Believe  me,  dearest,  my  heart  yearns  for  you  as 
fondly  as  ever,  and  many  a  night  I  lie  awake  communing  with 
you  in  spirit. — And  how  comforting  your  tender  solicitude  is 
to  me!  But  you  must  not  be  anxious  about  me,  dear  heart, 
nor  fear  that  I  am  putting  too  severe  a  strain  upon  my  nerves 
by  thus  reviving  the  memory  of  the  terrible  and  heart-rending 
past.  Edmee  does  much  to  counteract  these  sad  impressions. 
Besides,  the  worst  is  over;  I  have  seen  nearly  all  the  places 
connected  with  my  martyrdom  and,  the  first  sharp  pangs  over, 
it  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that,  though  it.  never  forgets,  the 
heart  grows  calmer,  and  can  contemplate  its  losses  with  un- 
abated sorrow  but  without  the  bitter  agony  of  the  first  days. 

The  day  before  yesterday,  however,  brought  my  whole 
tragedy  before  my  eyes  again  when  I  visited  the  Temple  and 
the  prison  of  La  Force.  The  apartments  in  which  the  Royal 
family  spent  their  days  of  terrible  captivity  have  been  pulled 
down,  but  the  great  round  hall  past  the  windows  of  which 
they  carried  the  head  of  my  beloved  princess  is  unchanged. 
Then  we  went  down  into  the  underground  dungeons  where  I 
was  imprisoned  for  many  long  weeks,  and  I  had  to  show 

186 


PAINFUL  MEMORIES.  1 87 

Edmee  all  the  well-remembered  places  and  the  little  niche 
where  I  lay  on  my  poor  straw  pallet. 

The  La  Force  was  entirely  unaltered  and  I  passed  with 
streaming  eyes  through  its  gloomy  cells  thinking  of  the  dear 
friends  who  had  set  out  on  their  last  journey  from  thence.  We 
afterwards  drove  through  the  street  where  the  tragedy  of  my 
life  had  culminated.  There  were  the  same  houses  that  had 
passed  before  my  eyes  on  that  death  journey,  and  once  again 
I  seemed  to  see  the  hideous  faces  of  the  crowd  and  hear  the 
thunder  of  the  explosion  and  the  mad  shrieks  of  the  terrified 
mob.  Here  were  probably  the  selfsame  stones  on  which  I 
had  last  seen  my  Hector's  blood-stained  head  when  he  gave 
his  life  for  mine. — Oh  Annaliebe,  how  my  heart  sickened  with 
pain  as  I  caught  sight  of  the  well-remembered  spot!  I  left 
the  carriage  and  kneeling  down  pressed  my  lips  to  the  cold 
stone  on  which  my  Hector's  head  had  lain.  Edmee  put  her 
arm  round  me  and  led  me  away,  and  we  drove  off  quickly  to 
escape  the  gaping  crowd  that  had  begun  to  gather  round  us, 
astonished,  no  doubt,  by  my  proceedings. 

Arrived  at  home,  I  found  your  dear  letter  awaiting  me  to 
distract  me  from  my  painful  thoughts — never  was  letter  more 
welcome.  Every  little  detail  of  your  family  life  interests  and 
delights  me.  Ah,  my  Annaliebe,  your  tranquil  but  deep  affec- 
tion restored  the  shattered  balance  of  my  life. 

And  now,  my  best  and  sweetest  of  friends,  I  have  told  you 
all  I  felt  and  suffered  in  reviving  the  memories  of  the  past — it 
was  inevitable — but  I  have  done ;  I  will  neither  excite  myself 
nor  pain  you  any  more.  My  letters  now  shall  concern  them- 
selves only  with  the  present  and  what  happens  to  me  day  by 
'day. 

In  these  days  I  have  met  many  old  friends  again  and  we 


1 88  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

have,  of  course,  had  endlessly  much  to  say  to  one  another. 
But  oh,  my  dear,  what  sufferings  many  of  these  poor  things 
have  endured  in  foreign  lands !  and  have  occupied  the 
strangest  positions  to  keep  themselves  from  absolute  starva- 
tion. Few,  if  any,  among  them  found  such  faithful  loving 
friends  as  I  did.  I  quite  believe  that  in  your  utter  unselfish- 
ness you  do  not  realise  what  gift  you  bestowed  upon  me.  The 
fervent  gratitude  of  a  lifetime  could  not  adequately  repay 
you.  Adieu,  dearest,  truest  heart. 

Ever  your  own 

CECILE. 

FROM  ANNALIEBE'S  DIARY. 

KALBE,  December  26,  1801. 

Christmas  is  just  over,  that  sweetest  idyll  of  our  childish 
days  whose  fairy  radiance  shines  on  softly  through  the  later 
years  till  it  beams  out  brightly  once  more  in  our  children's 
happy  eyes. 

Oh,  my  Cecile,  how  I  have  missed  you !  How  I  wish  you 
had  been  with  us  yesterday  and  seen  the  children's  joy.  The 
Pastors'  children  were  invited  for  the  Christmas  tree,  and 
really  it  made  one  a  child  again  to  be  amongst  them.  Phil- 
linchen's  speechless  delight  did  one  good  to  look  at.  It 
seemed  so  strange  not  to  set  out  Cecile's  presents  among  the 
rest. 

I  do  hope  the  little  gifts  I  sent  her  to  far-off  Paris  arrived 
in  time.  To  my  joyful  surprise  I  found  a  large  parcel  with 
the  Paris  postmark  on  my  already  heaped  up  Christmas  table, 
and  on  opening  it  discovered  the  beautiful  little  new-fashioned 
musical  instrument  they  call  a  guitar.  How  sweet  of  Cecile 


FROM  ANNALIEBfc'S  DIARY.  189 

to  think  of  giving  me  this  melodious  present;  its  shape  is 
so  charming  and  it  is  so  light  and  easy  to  hold.  She  says  not 
a  word  about  it  in  her  letter,  and  I  am  ignorant  of  the  proper 
method  of  playing  it;  but  as  there  is  a  little  parcel  of  music 
with  it  and  I  already  play  the  harp,  I  daresay  I  shall  soon 
find  out. 

Her  dear  long  letter,  however,  pleased  me  most  of  all. 
My  poor  darling,  what  sad,  heart-stirring  emotions  you  must 
have  struggled  with  during  these  last  weeks !  Everything  in 
Paris  must  remind  you  of  those  days  of  terrible  suffering 
and  of  your  lost  love.  Oh  faithful  heart,  that  neither  time 
nor  Death  can  turn  from  its  allegiance,  that  cannot  conceive 
the  possibility  of  seeking  to  replace  the  lost  delight! 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SEVENTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  ad  "Nivose  XI. 

My  beloved  Annaliebe: 

A  thousand  thousand  thanks  for  your  loving  letter  and 
the  fascinating  little  gifts  you  made  for  me  with  your  dear 
clever  hands. 

I  trust  my  letter  reached  you  by  Christmas  and  that  the 
little  guitar  pleased  you.  It  is  greatly  in  vogue  here  with  the 
ladies,  and  I  do  not  think  you  will  find  any  difficulty  in  learn- 
ing to  play  it.  It  will  form  a  charming  accompaniment  to 
your  sweet  voice — would  that  I  could  hear  it ! — as  a  solo  in- 
strument it  is  not  very  satisfactory.  I  thought  much  on 
Christmas  Eve  of  you  all  and  the  many  beautiful  Christmas 
festivals  I  had  shared  with  you  at  home.  Here,  you  know, 
there  is  nothing  of  the  kind,  though  Edmee  invited  a  few 
friends  to  spend  the  evening  with  us  and  distributed  her 
etrennes  amongst  us  instead  of  waiting  for  the  New  Year. 
These  were  mostly  confiseries,  the  finest  of  which  I  pass  on 
to  you  herewith  for  Phillinchen.  Kiss  her  from  me  and  tell 
her  she  is  not  to  forget  Aunt  Cecile. 

Since  writing  to  you  last,  we  have  made  most  of  the  visits 
set  down  upon  our  list. 

One  of  the  first  was  to  the  Marquise  de  Montesson,  whom 

190 


THE  MARQUISE  DE  MONTESSON.  igi 

you  know  from  Edmee's  letters  and  also  as  an  old  friend  of 
my  youth. 

Her  amiability  and  tact  have  made  her  beloved  and  re- 
spected by  all  parties  and  the  First  Consul  holds  her  in  high 
esteem.  He  has  given  her  a  pension  and  induced  her  to  open 
her  salons  immediately  after  the  Revolution,  but  it  is  princi- 
pally the  old  nobility  who  go  there  whom  Bonaparte  is  so 
anxious  to  win  over. 

She  received  me  with  open  arms  and  embraced  me  ten- 
derly. Though  aged  the  Marquise  has  lost  none  of  her  ex- 
quisite charm  and  distinction. 

She  receives  three  times  a  week  at  6  o'clock,  and  when 
we  arrived  there  were  already  some  thirty  or  forty  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  all  ages  assembled  in  the  rooms.  Among  them 
I  found  many  friends  and  acquaintances  of  old  days,  and  look- 
ing round  these  rooms  rilled  with  pictures  of  the  Royal  family 
and  all  that  was  in  fashion  before  the  great  upheaval;  when 
I  saw  the  servants  in  their  powdered  wigs  and  gala  liveries 
handing  round  tea  to  these  beautiful  women  with  their  soft 
voices  and  cultured  speech,  I  almost  felt  that  the  interval  had 
been  a  horrid  dream  and  that  I  was  back  in  the  old  days  of  my 
fair  Queen  Marie  Antoinette. 

Several  of  the  ladies  told  me  that  this  circle  of  the  old 
nobility  lives  quite  to  itself  and  takes  no  part  whatever  in 
the  new  Court  and  the  festivities  given  there. — They  alone 
will  not  adopt  the  new  fashion  of  dress.  Even  those  who 
have  managed  to  save  their  fortune  make  not  the  slightest 
show  of  luxury,  living  quietly  and  forming  a  society  in  them- 
selves, but — it  is  nevertheless  the  first  society  of  Paris.  They 
are  nearly  all  people  of  high  culture  and  refinement,  and  many 
of  them — women  as  well  as  men — famous  in  one  way  or  an- 


IQ2  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

other.  Besides,  they  have  been  joined  by  many  of  the  old 
French  savants  and  members  of  the  Academy,  also  by  more 
than  one  distinguished  foreigner  who  find  themselves  out  of 
touch  with  the  manners  of  the  new  society. 

Although  this  circle  professes  to  ignore  the  parvenu  Bona- 
parte and  all  his  works,  I  found  that,  nevertheless,  conversa- 
tion turned  perpetually  upon  the  new  Court,  and  many  were 
the  bitingly  satirical  stories  that  were  told  about  its  short- 
comings. 

The  Prince  de  Poix  led  the  van  in  this  respect,  though 
Edmee  whispered  to  me  that  in  spite  of  his  scandal  he  was 
much  inclined  to  the  new  regime. 

One  of  the  Prince's  stories  had  for  its  heroine  the  Madame 
Grant  whom  Talleyrand  married,  and  whose  life  formerly  had 
been,  I  believe,  extremely  loose.  The  first  time  she  entered 
the  salons  of  Madame  Bonaparte  as  the  Marquise  de  Talley- 
rand-Perigord  the  Consul  is  said  to  have  remarked  to  her — "  I 
trust  that  Madame  Talleyrand  will  make  us  forget  Madame 
Grant." 

To  which  she  replied — though  I  can  scarcely  believe  this 
part  of  the  Prince's  story,  for  they  say  she  is  dreadfully  stupid — 
"  Monsieur  le  Consul,  I  shall  endeavour  to  follow  Madame 
Bonaparte's  example  in  every  way." 

If  this  answer  is  true  it  was  a  very  clever  slap  at  Madame 
Josephine's  past. 

The  newly  organised  Court  bows  down  before  the  First 
Consul  with  truly  military  subservience  though  to  all  alike  he 
is  brusque  and  harsh;  and  even  when  he  tries  to  be  polite  he 
only  succeeds  in  being  patronising.  His  whole  manner  there- 
fore gives  one  an  impression  of  roughness  and  ill-breeding, 


MADAME  DE  STAEL.  193 

and  he  often  employs  expressions  which  are  more  fitted  for 
the  camp  than  the  drawing-room. 

No  wonder  then  that  Madame  Josephine,  as  I  hear,  does 
not  feel  quite  in  her  element  in  this  new  Court  and  tries  to  re- 
gain access  to  the  society  into  which  she  was  born.  She  does 
her  utmost  to  entice  the  ladies  of  our  set  into  her  Household, 
but  it  is  love's  labour  lost. 

Edmee  listened  with  an  ironical  smile  to  these  stories 
against  her  hero,  and  remarked  as  we  drove  home  that,  despite 
the  sarcasm  of  the  company,  she  could  name  several  who  had 
managed  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  new  order  of 
things. 

But  the  people  who  interested  me  most  on  that  evening, 
after  my  dear  Maman  Montesson,  were  the  Baroness  de 
Stael  and  the  Marquis  de  Luchesini  who  seemed  quite  on  the 
footing  of  a  member  of  the  household. 

Place  aux  dames,  dearest,  and  so  I  will  begin  with  Madame 
de  Stael.  I  knew  her  slightly  before  when  her  father,  Necker, 
was  Minister  of  Finance  to  the  King.  She  must  be  34  now, 
but  I  was  quite  astonished  at  her  beauty  and  youthful  appear- 
ance. She  is  quite  lovely  and  the  very  personification  of  grace, 
with  splendid  hair  and  wonderful  dark  eyes  that  seem  to  ex- 
press every  passing  emotion,  every  changing  thought.  She 
seems  to  possess  an  unerring  instinct  for  the  manners  of  the 
great  world  and  bears  herself  as  nobly  as  if  her  forefathers  had 
been  dukes  and  princes  instead  of  little  provincial  bourgeois. 
Her  fame  as  an  authoress  and  the  part  she  played  in  the  Revo- 
lution are  known  to  all  the  world.  However,  since  her  life  was 
in  danger  during  the  Terror  and  she  fled  with  her  father  to 
Coppet  on  the  Lake  of  Geneva  she  has  entirely  reversed  her 
opinions  and,  like  most  converts,  is  now  an  extreme  Legitimist. 


194  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

She  married  the  Baron  de  Stael-Holstein  in  1786,  but  the 
union  has  not  been  a  particularly  happy  one,  I  hear,  and  the 
two  have  lived  mostly  apart.  Latterly,  however,  since  the 
Baron  fell  seriously  ill  there  has  bien  a  rapprochement  and 
Madame  nurses  her  husband  with  unfailing  devotion.  Other- 
wise she  is  wholly  absorbed  in  her  literary  work. 

When  this  celebrated  lady  came  up  to  me  and,  embracing 
me  affectionately,  spoke  of  the  days  of  our  early  acquaintance, 
I  was  subjugated  by  the  charm  of  her  manner  and  the  influence 
of  her  great  mind,  and  returned  her  greeting  most  cordially. 
She  is  indeed  an  extraordinary  woman.  In  the  days  when  we 
were  young  girls  together,  and  the  rest  of  us  thought  of  noth- 
ing but  dancing  and  amusements,  she  was  already  writing  the 
most  thoughtful  books  on  the  profoundest  problems  of  life. 

As  to  the  Marquis  Luchesini,  I  was  of  course  particularly 
interested  in  him,  first  as  being  the  ambassador  for  Prussia, 
my  dear  second  home,  and  then  because  of  the  crowd  of 
amusing  stories  Philipp  Alvensleben  and  Kockeritz  used  to 
tell  us  of  him,  his  femme  irresolue  and  her  sisters.  What  a 
funny  black-haired,  Jewish-looking  mannikin  it  is,  to  be  sure! 
I  must  say,  I  was  ashamed  to  see  Prussia  represented  by  such 
a  man.  I  heard  a  great  deal  about  him,  for  everybody  seems 
to  know  him  and  his  peculiar  qualities  well.  They  say  that  he 
stands  well  with  Talleyrand,  but  that  the  First  Consul  cannot 
endure  him.  The  Marquise  was  there  too,  an  extremely  stout 
and  by  no  means  pretty  woman  in  a  hyper-fashionable  toilette, 
so  decolletee  as  to  be  absolutely  indecent.  The  two  made  a 
mysteriously  sinister  impression  on  me  and  no  one  seemed 
to  affect  their  company  much,  although  the  Marquise  raved 
about  Paris,  saying  it  was  her  dearest  wish  to  be  able  to  spend 
the  rest  of  her  life  there.  The  Marquis  made  himself  very 


ATTEMPT  ON  BONAPARTE'S  LIFE.  195 

agreeable  and  told  me  much  that  was  interesting  about  my 
dear  Berlin,  but,  for  all  that,  the  man  was  thoroughly  distaste- 
ful to  me,  and  I  believe  him  to  be  so  self-seeking  and  un- 
scrupulous as  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  your  country  to 
further  his  own  ends. 

Yesterday  evening  we  were  at  the  Italian  Opera.  This  is 
Bonaparte's  favourite  theatre.  The  house  is  extremely  well 
decorated  and  splendidly  lighted — altogether  Paris  is  far  in 
advance  of  Berlin  in  the  matter  of  lighting.  The  orchestra 
was  perfect  and  the  company  unsurpassable;  it  is  a  disgrace 
to  Paris  that  the  opera  house  finds  so  little  support,  one  sees 
only  actual  musical  connoisseurs  there.  I  believe  the  Paris- 
ians are  too  blindly  devoted  to  their  own  productions  to  admit 
the  claims  of  foreigners  to  any  merit. 

Bonaparte  was  present  with  his  wife  and  step-daughter 
Hortense,  but  he  sat  so  far  back  in  the  loge  behind  his  wife 
that  I  scarcely  saw  him,  the  loge  being  on  the  same  side  of  the 
theatre  as  our  own.  The  Consul  had  about  thirty  of  his  guards 
with  him,  who  were  distributed  over  a  number  of  loges.  He 
left  an  hour  before  the  end  of  the  opera,  but  Madame  remained 
to  the  last  and  drove  away  in  an  elegant  English  carriage  with 
two  footmen. 

As  Bonaparte  rose  to  leave,  the  whole  audience  stood 
up  and  gave  him  a  perfect  ovation.  For  a  moment,  then,  I 
saw  his  face  as  he  gazed  down  unmoved  at  the  cheering 
crowd.  Then  he  bent  his  head  slightly  and  disappeared. 

This  demonstration  is  doubtless  the  result  of  his  late  nar- 
row escape  from  death,  a  plot  hatched  by  the  Jacobins,  who 
are  for  ever  on  the  outlook  for  a  chance  to  assassinate  him. 
Madame  de  Montesson,  who  was  with  us  that  evening  in  the 
theatre,  told  me  all  about  it.  The  plan  was  to  blow  up  the  Con- 


196  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

sul  by  an  infernal  machine,  something  of  the  kind  employed 
by  my  Hector  when  he  saved  me  from  the  guillotine.  But 
Providence  mercifully  averted  this  calamity  which,  in  these 
unsettled  times,  might  have  had  incalculably  mischievous  re- 
sults. The  coachman  driving  the  Consul's  carriage  was  a 
cool-headed  German  who,  catching  sight  suddenly  of  a  small 
handcart  with  a  barrel  on  it  just  in  front  of  him,  and  some 
suspicious-looking  men  prowling  near  it,  without  a  moment's 
hesitation  whipped  up  his  horses  and  dashed  past  at  a  furious 
gallop. — Almost  at  the  same  moment  the  barrel  exploded 
with  a  report  like  thunder,  the  houses  rocked,  glass  and  bricks 
rained  down  upon  the  pavements,  and  a  number  of  people 
were  frightfully  injured  or  killed  outright — but  the  Consul  es- 
caped unhurt. 

He  was  on  his  way  to  the  Opera  House,  where  Haydn's 
"  Creation  "  was  being  performed  that  evening.  By  the  time 
he  appeared  in  the  Royal  loge,  his  usual  marble  demeanour 
no  whit  disturbed,  the  news  of  the  attempt  on  his  life  had 
reached  and  spread  through  the  house.  The  performers  were 
no  doubt  affected  by  this;  in  any  case,  the  singing  did  not 
meet  with  the  Consul's  approval.  When,  at  the  close  of  the 
performance,  some  of  the  leading  singers  presented  them- 
selves before  Bonaparte  to  congratulate  him  on  his  escape,  he 
answered  gruffly :  "  Je  vous  remercie,  messieurs,  mais  vous  avez 
chante  comme  des  cochons!  " 

By  which,  my  Annaliebe,  you  will  see  that  the  great  man 
cannot  be  accused  of  too  excessive  politeness.  Even  his 
adored  Josephine  came  in  for  a  share  of  his  harsh  temper  that 
evening,  for  when,  bathed  in  tears,  she  flew  out  of  her  loge 
to  meet  him,  he  begged  her  sharply  to  collect  herself,  add- 
ing, "  Remember,  Madame,  you  are  not  a  fishwife."  He  evi- 


THE  FIRST  CONSUL  AT  ST.   CLOUD.  197 

dently  expects  the  same  imperturbable  coolness  and  self- 
control  from  his  surroundings  as  he  possesses  himself. 

The  First  Consul  has  now  removed  his  official  residence 
to  St.  Cloud  and  only  comes  to  the  Tuileries  on  business  of 
the  State.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  he  will  return  to  Paris  at  all 
this  winter;  everything  is  being  arranged  for  a  permanent 
stay  at  St.  Cloud.  The  immense  regiment  of  domestics  is 
lodged  in  some  great  monastery  buildings  close  by  the  pal- 
ace. But  Mistrust  goes  the  rounds  and  Suspicion  is  the  sen- 
tinel, and  the  poor  inhabitants  of  St.  Cloud  have  been  for- 
bidden, by  express  order  of  the  First  Consul,  to  use  any 
promenade  but  the  one  along  the  river;  the  Park  is  inexo- 
rably closed  to  them. 

In  other  respects  his  Household  is  daily  conforming  more 
and  more  to  the  pattern  of  a  royal  one,  in  fact  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  things  is  setting  rapidly  towards  a  Monarchy,  and  you 
will  see  that  the  strong  man  now  at  the  head  of  affairs  will 
not  suffer  these  half  measures  much  longer. 

My  visit  to  Talleyrand  must  still  be  deferred,  as  he  has 
not  yet  returned  from  Luneville,  where  he  is  drawing  up  the 
final  conditions  of  the  Peace.  After  all,  he  is  a  great  states- 
man and  has  just  secured  for  France  by  the  Peace  of  Lune- 
ville a  territory  about  a  third  as  large  as  all  Prussia.  Here 
he  is  almost  as  much  talked  about  as  his  great  master. 

You  write  that  I  am  to  describe  the  latest  modes  in  vogue 
here.  That  is  no  easy  task,  I  can  assure  you ;  but  I  enclose 
you  herewith  a  fashion-plate  which  will  give  you  some  idea 
of  a  really  new  costume  which  combines  elegance  with  de- 
cency— a  pair  often  more  widely  separated  than  one  might 
wish. 

As  to  the  men — they  all  wear  their  hair  now  cut  short  a.  la 


198  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Titus,  blue  coats  with  black  collars  and  brass  buttons,  a  short 
yellow  gilet  with  large  collar  and  revers,  and  long  black  cassi- 
mere  pantalons.  If  one  wishes  to  be  ultra-modish,  an  enormous 
three-cornered  hat  under  the  arm  must  be  carried. 

But  now  I  really  must  close  this  unconscionably  long  let- 
ter and  say  good-bye  for  to-day,  my  sweetest  friend.  How- 
ever, as  we  are  on  the  subject  of  fashions,  let  me  send  you 
herewith  the  very  latest  frivolity — a  glove-nut.  I  think  the 
pair  inside  will  just  fit  your  pretty  little  hands,  and  if,  after 
wearing  them,  you  fail  to  pack  them  into  the  nut  again,  never 
mind — I  could  not  either  with  my  own.  It  is  only  a  toy. 
And  now  adieu,  mon  ange,  I  look  forward  confidently  to  a  letter 
from  you  to-morrow. 

CECILE. 

How  justly  the  Baroness  gauged  the  character  of  the 
Marquis  de  Luchesini  was  amply  proved  by  his  subsequent 
actions,  which  were  most  disastrous  for  Prussia.  Napoleon's 
ever-growing  distrust  of  Prussia  must  be  ascribed  solely  to 
Luchesini's  influence.  It  was  the  triumvirate  Haugwitz, 
Lombard,  and  Luchesini  who  brought  about  Prussia's  down- 
fall at  that  period.  When  in  1806  Luchesini  concluded  the 
shameful  armistice  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  which  the 
King  refused  to  accept,  he  was  dismissed.  From  that  time 
till  his  death  in  1825  he  was  Chamberlain  to  the  Princess 
Elise,  Napoleon's  youngest  sister,  who  married  the  enor- 
mously wealthy  Prince  Bacciochi. 


CHAPTER   XX. 
EIGHTH  LETTER. 

PAWS,  i4th  Nivose  XI. 

My  darling  Annaliebe: 

At  last,  my  great  wish  has  been  fulfilled  and  I  have  had  a 
good  view  of  the  mighty  Bonaparte,  the  man  on  whom  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  world  are  fixed  in  wonder  and  expectation. 

There  was  to  be  a  grand  parade  of  troops  in  front  of  the 
Tuileries  at  II  o'clock  in  the  morning;  accordingly  Edmee 
and  I  drove  there,  but  found  that  having  omitted  to  procure 
tickets  we  were  not  allowed  to  pass  the  grille  and  so  only  ob- 
tained an  impression  of  the  parade  as  a  whole;  we  were  too 
far  off  for  the  details. 

This  was  the  spot  on  which  on  August  loth,  1792,  the 
Swiss  guards  were  so  brutally  cut  down  defending  the  palace 
against  the  onslaught  of  the  populace.  Oh,  if  the  King  had 
only  had  some  of  Bonaparte's  energy  at  that  time,  how  dif- 
ferently things  would  have  turned  out ! 

At  II  o'clock  the  troops,  numbering  about  7000  men,  be- 
gan to  march  up,  the  cavalry  being  the  garde  consulaire  and 
the  infantry  the  corps  des  veterans.  It  is  considered  a  great 
distinction  to  belong  to  the  former  extremely  elite  regiment,  as 
only  the  finest  men  with  at  least  three  campaigns  behind  them 
are  admitted  to  it. 

199 


2OO  LETTERS   FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

On  the  stroke  of  12  Bonaparte  came  galloping  up  on  a 
superb  white  horse  accompanied  by  several  Generals — among 
whom  Edmee  pointed  out  Berthier  and  Lannes — and  his 
Adjutants.  Immediately  behind  him  rode  his  Mameluke 
Roustan,  whom  the  Sheik  El  Bekri  had  given  him  in  Egypt 
and  who  is  never  far  from  Bonaparte's  side.  At  night  he  lies 
across  the  Consul's  door  and  is  devotedly  attached  to  him.  He 
was  riding  a  thoroughbred  arab  with  gorgeous  trappings 
and  wore  a  most  striking  costume — a  red  velvet  fez  with  a 
tuft  of  white  feathers  fastened  by  a  gold  agraffe,  a  short  gold- 
embroidered  jacket,  and  wide  trousers  of  the  same  material 
stuffed  into  high  yellow  leather  boots.  At  his  side  hung  a 
curved  Turkish  scimiter,  the  hilt  and  scabbard  encrusted  with 
brilliants  that  flashed  in  the  sunlight  as  he  rode. 

And  now  the  drums  rolled  and  the  air  resounded  with  the 
shouts  of  "  Vive  Bonaparte — vive  notre  General !  "  It  was 
the  first  time  the  Consul  had  appeared  in  public  since  the 
Peace,  and  the  people  received  him  with  frenzied  enthusiasm. 

I  saw  him  about  four  times  as  he  galloped  up  and  down 
the  ranks.  He  is  not  tall  and  wore  a  red  gold-embroidered 
coat  and  a  large  hat  without  any  feathers.  I  was  too  far  off 
to  distinguish  his  features,  but  he  is  extremely  pale.  His  in- 
spection over,  he  went  to  the  middle  of  the  Place  surrounded 
by  the  Generals  and  distributed  a  few  swords  of  honour  and 
rifles.  During  the  whole  parade  he  never  once  touched  his 
hat,  but  as  he  galloped  past  the  veterans  he  bared  his  head. 
The  troops  then  all  marched  past  him  and  so  out  of  the  Place. 

The  uniforms  of  the  Generals  were  very  richly  embroi- 
dered, and  as  to  the  drummers,  their  coats  were  simply  stiff 
with  gold.  As  each  drum-major  marched  past  Bonaparte  he 
threw  his  great  baton,  decorated  with  an  enormous  crimson 


MILITARY  PARADE  AT  THE  TUILERIES.  2OI 

tassel,  high  in  the  air,  almost  to  the  first-floor  windows  of  the 
palace,  and  caught  it  again  most  adroitly;  I  did  not  see  one 
baton  fall  to  the  ground.  In  distributing  the  decorations  the 
Consul  said  a  few  words  to  each  recipient,  and  to  some  of  them 
he  gave  his  hand. 

There  was  another  long  roll  of  drums  and  the  massed  bands 
burst  into  the  Marseillaise.  Oh  Annaliebe,  I  cannot  descnoe 
the  sensation  of  hearing  that  song  for  the  first  time  since  the 
Revolution!  Rouget  de  Lisle  little  dreamt,  when,  full  of  en- 
thusiasm for  Diderot's  noble  ideals  of  liberty,  he  wrote  it,  to 
what  base  uses  it  would  fall  during  the  Revolution! 

To-day  it  was  played  in  honour  of  the  Dictator.  Again 
there  were  deafening  shouts  of  "  Vive  notre  General  Bona- 
parte! "  and  the  Consul  rode  slowly  back  to  the  Tuileries. 

This,  dearest  friend,  was  my  first  sight  of  the  omnipotent 
man  wno  can  make  or  mar  my  future.  If  I  only  knew  how 
best  to  obtain  an  audience  of  him!  Madame  Josephine  will  be 
the  best  medium  I  think. 

After  the  Parade  we  drove  out  to  Longchamps,  where 
there  is  a  sort  of  Corso  now  every  afternoon,  and  the  elegants 
of  both  sexes  show  off  the  very  latest  fashions  in  toilettes  and 
carriages.  Apropos  of  the  latter,  I  notice  that  the  coachman's 
box  is  now  set  so  low  that  it  seems  in  danger  of  scraping  the 
ground,  whereas,  in  my  time,  it  was  so  high  that  one  might 
almost  step  from  it  into  the  first-floor  windows. 

We  met  numbers  of  cabriolets  containing  really  beautiful 
women,  some  of  whom  Edmee  named  to  me,  for  instance,  the 
lovely  Madame  Lannes  who  drove  past  us  with  her  husband 
the  Marechal,  known  as  the  "  Roland  of  the  Army  "  because 
of  his  statuesque  appearance.  She  is  like  one  of  Murillo's 
Madonnas  and  wore  a  very  pale-coloured  robe  d  la  Grecque. 


202  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

All  the  toilettes  are  in  very  light  tints,  as  the  First  Consul  dis- 
likes dark  colours. 

The  fashionable  colour  is  still  brown  "  terre  d'Egypte," 
though  since  the  late  sanguinary  battles  there  it  will  probably 
be  changed  to  crimson  "  terre  d'Egypte."  Enormously  long 
trains  are  still  prevalent  and  the  promenade  on  foot  is  conse- 
quently intolerable  from  the  dust.  Please  reassure  Uncle 
Briest  at  once,  however,  by  telling  him  that  I  have  no  inten- 
tion of  following  any  of  these  abnormities  in  fashion. 

But  ask  him,  with  my  love,  if  he  has  not  yet  become  the 
proud  possessor  of  one  of  the  new  high  hats  I  observed  to  be 
the  latest  thing  for  gentlemen  on  the  Corso.  These  are  tall 
cylinders  of  black  felt,  smooth  as  mirrors,  and  look  exactly 
like  chimney-pots.  I  really  thought  I  must  be  at  a  masque- 
rade. Edmee  told  me  that  the  hatter — Thierry  is  his  name — 
who  invented  them  made  a  wager  that  he  would  introduce 
the  very  most  absurd  shape  imaginable  and  it  would  become 
fashionable.  And  he  won  the  wager,  for  these  tall  black  pillars 
are  now  quite  de  rigueur  with  the  exquisites. 

Your  dear  letter  was  as  welcome  and  sweet  as  ever.  My 
love  to  good  Aunt  Kroecher  and  thank  her  for  her  affectionate 
interest  in  my  life  and  doings  here.  We  are  expecting  the  re- 
turn of  the  troops  from  Egypt  very  shortly;  there  will,  no 
doubt,  be  many  military  fetes  in  consequence.  Adieu  for  to- 
day, dear  heart.  My  love  to  your  husband  and  sweet  Phil- 
linchen. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

NINTH   LETTER. 

PARIS,  22d  Nivose  XI. 

The  week  that  has  passed  since  I  last  wrote  to  you, 
dearest,  has  brought  me  one  step  nearer  to  the  end  I  have  in 
view.  I  have  great  hopes  of  being  able  to  present  myself  to 
you  soon  as  the  chatelaine  of  Mont  Courtot  and  Retrazet. 
Still,  I  may  yet  find  myself  disappointed,  in  spite  of  the  favour- 
able aspect  of  affairs.  I  will  not  set  my  mind  upon  it  too 
soon. 

I  wrote  you  that  my  friends  here  proposed  various  ways 
of  my  obtaining  an  audience  with  Madame  Josephine,  and  as 
one  of  these  plans  led  me  also  to  Talleyrand,  I  determined 
to  make  a  beginning  with  him  as  soon  as  he  returned  from 
Luneville.  I  felt  less  shy  in  addressing  myself  first  to  this 
famous  statesman  because,  during  my  childhood  and  while 
he  was  still  Bishop  of  Autun,  he  had  frequently  been  the  guest 
of  my  dear  parents.  In  fact,  for  some  reason  or  other,  he 
took  a  great  fancy  to  me,  and  used  always  to  bring  toys  for 
me,  so  that  my  dear  mother  would  tease  me  about  the  evi- 
dent fondness  of  the  ugly  old  man  whom  I  could  not  bear. 
5\nd  now  I  was  going  to  him  as  a  suppliant!  However,  as 
many  of  my  acquaintances  assured  me  that  he  made  a  very 

good  business  out  of  this  restitution  of  property,  I  too  re- 

203 

I 


204         LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

garded  the  matter  more  from  the  practical  than  the  senti- 
mental point  of  view. 

At  the  Marquise  d'Assas  the  other  day  somebody  told  a 
story  illustrating  his  venality. 

It  seems  that  the  great  water-works  at  Marly  which  dur- 
ing the  last  century  had  cost  millions  to  set  up  and  keep  in 
order,  had  fallen  into  such  a  state  of  dilapidation  that  a  tho- 
rough restoration  of  the  machinery  had  become  imperatively 
necessary. 

A  Versailles  without  fountains  was,  of  course,  inconceiv- 
able; moreover,  the  First  Consul  had  expressed  his  intention 
of  using  the  palace  as  another  official  residence;  so  the  busi- 
ness firms  were  called  upon  in  all  haste  to  submit  their  plans, 
and  a  Company,  with  the  famous  Montgolfier  at  its  head, 
offered  to  supply,  in  the  shortest  possible  time,  entirely  new 
machinery,  which  should  also  bring  a  larger  volume  of  water 
into  play.  And  for  all  remuneration  they  only  asked  for  the 
material  of  the  old  machinery. 

But  Montgolfier,  never  dreaming  that  an  offer  so  bril- 
liantly advantageous  to  the  Government  would  require  Talley- 
rand's patronage,  omitted  to  buy  over  that  statesman,  wiih 
the  result  that  his  offer  was  refused. 

Other  machinery  was  then  put  in,  at  a  cost  of  three  million 
francs,  and  proved  itself  later  to  be  almost  worthless.  This 
circumstance  was,  however,  of  minor  importance;  Monsieur 
Talleyrand  had  his  100,000  francs  "  commission  "  safely  in  his 
pocket  and  that  was  all  that  mattered !  And  that  is  the  way 
many  a  large '  fortune  is  made  just  now — Talleyrand's  is  al- 
ready computed  at  twenty  million  francs. 

The  man  is  as  cunning  as  a  fox  and  as  slippery  as  an  eel — 
there  is  no  getting  hold  of  him.  He  gave  proof  of  that  when 


TALLEYRAND. 

he,  the  ci-devant  Bishop,  induced  the  Pope  to  give  him  a  dis- 
pensation, whereby  he  was  free  to  marry  this  Madame  Grant, 
and  after  all  his  sins  against  the  Church,  too.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  he  made  the  recall  of  the  priests  de- 
pendent on  this  dispensation. 

They  say  that  his  influence  with  the  First  Consul  is  daily 
becoming  greater,  and  though  Bonaparte  hates  him,  he  can- 
not do  without  him. 

The  Prince  de  Poix  showed  us  a  caricature  the  other  day 
representing  Talleyrand  with  his  club  foot  holding  Bonaparte 
by  both  hands  and  making  him  dance,  while  Cardinal  Caprara, 
who  is  very  influential  here  too,  stands  grinning  by  and  plays 
the  fiddle. 

This  open  ridicule  of  public  personages,  which  was  the 
first  sign  of  the  Revolution,  is  coming  up  again;  I  trust, 
however,  with  less  serious  results. 

Having  given  you  a  slight  sketch  of  Talleyrand's  public 
character,  let  me  go  on  to  describe  my  visit  to  him  two  days 
ago.  I  was  decidedly  nervous  about  this  first  meeting  with 
him,  Edmee  having  heard  that  his  manner  towards  ladies  was, 
if  anything,  worse  than  Bonaparte's.  However,  thank 
Heaven,  things  turned  out  better  than  I  could  have  hoped 
for. 

I  was  ushered  into  a  sumptuously  furnished  salon  by  a 
lacquey  in  a  richly  laced  coat,  who  handed  me  over  to  a 
gentleman-in-waiting,  who  proceeded  to  announce  me  to  the 
Minister.  Immediately  afterwards  the  door  opened  and  the 
"  Marquis  citoyen,"  as  he  calls  himself,  entered  en  petite  tenue, 
namely,  a  blue  coat  with  gold-embroidered  collar  and  revers,  a 
lace  jabot  and  white  pantalons  en  escarpins.  But  in  spite  of 
this  becoming  uniform  he  looked  positively  hideous,  and  I 


206  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

could  hardly  repress  a  shudder  as  I  faced  him.  It  was  not 
so  much  his  ghastly  pallor  and  staring  fishy  eyes,  his  turned- 
up  nose  and  enormous,  long-lipped  mouth,  not  even  his  mis- 
shapen feet,  one  of  which  he  dragged  behind  him  as  he  walked, 
that  disgusted  and  terrified  me — it  was  his  appalling  likeness 
to  the  monster  Robespierre.  It  made  my  flesh  creep — they 
might  have  been  twin-brothers. 

It  is  hardly  possible  that  the  observant  Minister  should 
not  have  noticed  my  start  of  horror,  but  a  marble  statue  could 
not  have  remained  more  unmoved.  Whether  this  immobility 
of  feature  is  his  by  nature  or  an  acquired  mask  I  know  not — 
perhaps  he  is  aware  of  the  peculiar  impression  he  makes  upon 
strangers — at  any  rate,  he  let  no  sign  escape  him  and  ad- 
vanced towards  me  with  a  friendly  outstretched  hand. 

Oh  Annaliebe,  I  cannot  describe  to  you  what  I  felt  as  I 
timidly  laid  my  fingers  in  that  cold  and  clammy  hand!  The 
thought  of  all  the  evil  he  had  wrought  upon  my  beloved 
Royal  House  came  over  me  in  a  rush! 

"  Well,  mademoiselle,  and  so  you  are  safe  back  in  your 
own  country  again — you  poor  little  lady,"  he  began.  "  I  was 
sincerely  delighted  to  hear  of  your  escape  and  only  regretted 
that  I  was  out  of  the  country  at  the  time  and  could  not  be  of 
assistance  to  you.  But  why  did  you  and  your  Princess  not 
stay  quietly  in  England  where  you  were  out  of  harm's  way  ?  " 

The  tone  of  his  voice  was  harsh  and  rasping  and  without 
the  slightest  modulation,  and  yet  there  was  undeniably  a  cer- 
tain kindliness  in  his  words. 

What  could  I  answer  to  his  last  question?  Tell  him  what 
I  more  than  suspected  of  Philippe  Egalite's  share  in  the  mat- 
ter? To  what  end?  How  would  it  serve  me?  The  villain 


VISIT  TO  TALLEYRAND.  2O/ 

had  paid  the  price  of  his  crimes,  had  long  since  received  his 
just  reward. 

So  I  merely  replied  that  we  had  felt  it  impossible  to  desert 
the  Queen  in  her  hour  of  peril. 

A  horrid,  half-mocking  smile  passed  over  the  Minister's 
cold  features  at  these  words  and  he  murmured  to  himself, 
"  //  y  a  done  des  singulieres! " — "  What  extraordinary  senti- 
ments you  women  do  indulge  in,  to  be  sure! "  he  went  on. 
"  The  Queen's  case  was  hopeless,  you  could  not  possibly  have 
saved  her;  of  what  use  then  could  it  be  to  Marie  Antoinette 
that  you  two  should  come  back  to  certain  death?" 

What  did  this  egoist  know  of  devoted  love;  of  the  love 
that  will  ever  sacrifice  its  own  good  to  that  of  the  friend; 
how  could  he  understand  the  solace  we  derived  from  offer- 
ing our  poor  services  to  the  Royal  sufferer?  I  could  only 
falter,  "These  are  questions  of  feeling,  Monseigneur,  about 
which  it  is  useless  to  argue." 

He  then  went  on  to  ask  about  my  personal  circumstances 
and  my  parents.  He  alluded  to  the  by-gone  days  in  which  he 
had  known  me  as  a  child,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  with  the 
recollection  of  that  time  another  expression  came  upon  his 
hard  face  and  there  was  quite  an  affectionate  warmth  in  the 
tone  in  which  he  murmured,  "  Yes — yes — they  were  dear  good 
people!" 

He  made  me  tell  him  where  I  had  been  all  these  years  and 
the  manner  of  my  escape  from  death — he  had  never  heard  the 
details.  "  Ah,  my  little  friend,"  he  went  on,  "  I  pitied  you  with 
all  my  heart  and  have  often  thought  of  the  little  girl  I  used 
to  dance  upon  my  knee." 

I  can  assure  you,  Annaliebe,  I  was  struck  dumb  with 
astonishment,  I  could  not  believe  my  ears.  Could  this  be  the 


2O8  LETTERS   FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

same  man  who  had  spoken  so  cynically  just  now?  The  half- 
closed  eyes  had  a  totally  different  expression;  he  looked  at 
me  almost  tenderly  and  held  out  his  hand.  When  I  came  to 
the  scene  of  my  rescue  by  Hector  the  pangs  of  memory  were 
too  much  for  me  a.id  I  burst  into  tears.  "  Poor  girl,  what 
have  you  not  had  to  go  through/'  he  said,  laying  his  hand 
kindly  on  my  shoulder,  "to  be  saved  from  death  as  by  a  miracle 
and  then  to  lose  your  lover  immediately  afterwards — poor  little 
Cecile,  that  was  indeed  hard !  " 

"  So  Hector  de  Trellissac  was  your  fiance's  name  ?  "  he 
went  on  after  a  pause.  "Are  there  any  more  Trellissacs?  " 
I  told  him  no,  that  Hector  was  the  last  of  his  line.  "  Where 
can  I  have  heard  that  name?  "  he  pondered  with  a  shake  ot 
the  head.  "  It  must  have  been  in  the  old  days,  I  suppose." 

You  may  imagine  what  I  felt  at  these  words,  Annaliebe* 
For  one  instant  a  dazzling,  heavenly  hope  flashed  through  my 
mind.  But  it  was  madness — I  had  seen  my  lover's  head 
covered  with  blood,  I  had  seen  him  die,  there  was  no  linger- 
ing possibility  of  doubt  or  hope. 

Burying  my  face  in  my  hands,  I  burst  into  tears  and  gave 
way  utterly  under  the  pain  these  memories  reawakened  in  my 
heart. 

At  this  Talleyrand  laid  a  hand  gently  on  my  shoulder.  "  Do 
not  cry  like  that,  my  poor  girl,"  he  entreated,  "  I  cannot  bear  to 
see  it;  and  pray  forgive  me  for  having  grieved  you  thus  by  my 
questions." 

I  did  my  utmost  to  control  myself,  and  presently  he  took 
my  hand  reassuringly  and  asked :  "  Now  tell  me  how  I  can  be 
of  service  to  you?  I  gather  from  your  letter  that  you  have 
a  definite  object  in  coming  here — the  restitution  of  your 


TALLEYRAND'S  UNEXPECTED   SYMPATHY.  2OQ 

family  property,  no  doubt?  Are  there  any  others  of  your 
name?" 

Drying  my  tears,  I  answered  falteringly  that  I  had  a  young 
cousin,  Camille  de  Courtot,  attached  to  the  Embassy  in  Brus- 
sels. 

"  Well,  my  little  friend,"  he  resumed,  "  I  will  do  all  for 
you  that  lies  in  my  power,  but  I  think  it  advisable  that  you 
should  enlist  Madame  Josephine's  sympathies — for  the  mo- 
ment, I  am  almost  powerless,  my  mediation  would  do  you 
more  harm  than  good,  I  fear,  as  I  am  on  the  First  Consul's 
black  books.  Stay — I  will  give  you  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
the  Marquis  de  Coulaincourt,  who  has  just  entered  upon  his 
duties  as  Master  of  the  Household  to  Madame  Bonaparte  and 
who  will  soon  procure  you  an  audience  with  that  lady.  Never 
fear,  you  shall  have  your  property  restored  to  you — I  will  take 
care  of  that.  You  will  doubtless  have  observed,  Mademoi- 
selle," he  continued  and  his  cynical  smile  returned,  "  that 
things  have  changed  considerably  since  you  were  here.  Surely 
you  knew  something  of  our  fair  Queen-Consul  in  former 
days?  Ah — of  course.  Well,  do  not  fail  to  establish  yourself 
in  the  good  graces  of  this  all-powerful  woman,  there  is  hardly 
anything  impossible  to  her  just  now!  " 

"  The  Marquis  is  Master  of  the  Household  to  Madame 
Josephine?  "  I  cried  in  astonishment. 

Talleyrand  laughed  aloud.  "  What,  another  aristocrat !  you 
will  say.  But  mark  my  words:  every  one  of  them  will  come 
round  in  time.  Coulaincourt,  however,  has  a  certain  excuse 
for  accepting  a  post  near  Madame,  for,  if  you  remember,  the 
lady  was  long  undecided  whether,  of  her  many  wooers, 
Coulaincourt  was  not  preferable  to  the  much  older  Beau- 
harnais.  And  now  instead  of  being  her  husband  he  has  be- 


2IO  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS 

come  Master  of  her  Household.  Well,  well — I  tell  you  they  will 
all  come  by  and  by.  Why,  only  the  other  day  the  Laroche- 
foucauld  offered  herself  as  dame  d'atour.  You  would  never 
believe  from  what  quarters  petitions  pour  in  on  the  Consul 
nearly  every  day.  Between  ourselves,  the  Bourbon  Princes 
are  drawing  settled  incomes  from  him,  even  the  so-called 
Louis  XVIII. ,  at  present  in  England,  petitioned  Bonaparte 
a  little  while  ago  to  help  him  to  the  Throne.  But,  though 
Madame  Josephine  implored  her  husband  on  her  knees  to  re- 
store the  Bourbons,  Bonaparte  seems  to  have  no  leanings 
towards  the  part  of  King-Maker.  If  he  makes  anybody  into 
a  King  it  will  be  himself  and  no  one  else  in  the  world,  you 
may  be  sure.  But  pray  regard  these  confidences  as  strictly  be- 
tween ourselves. — By  the  way,  Mademoiselle,  should  Madame 
Josephine  procure  you  an  audience  with  the  First  Consul, 
stand  up  to  him  fearlessly  and  prefer  your  request  in  as  few 
words  as  possible,  he  does  not  like  long  speeches.  However, 
should  he  ask  you  if  you  would  like  to  enter  Madame's  House- 
hold, give  him  an  evasive  answer — say  for  instance  that  the 
last  male  member  of  the  family  is  already  in  the  service  of  the 
State. — Of  course  if  you  liked  to  accept  the  post  you  would 
be  welcomed  with  open  arms.  You  can  think  it  over. — Now, 
I  think  that  is  all  the  advice  I  can  offer  you.  Keep  up  your 
spirits,  all  will  go  well,  I  hope.  If  you  will  take  the  trouble  to 
go  to  the  Marquise  for  a  few  moments  I  will  bring  the  letter  of 
recommendation  to  you  there." 

The  Minister  herewith  brought  his  long  speech  to  a  close 
and  held  out  his  hand.  I  thanked  him  warmly  for  his  kind- 
ness, curtseyed  low  and  retired,  the  gentleman-in-waiting  con- 
ducting me  to  the  apartments  of  Madame  la  Marquise. 

As  you  may  imagine,  I  did  not  anticipate  much  pleasure 


INTRODUCTION  DE  MME.   GRANT.  211 

from  this  visit.  The  little,  corpulent,  very  common-looking 
lady  received  me  graciously,  her  flabby  old  face  thickly  plas- 
tered with  red  and  white  paint,  and  short  as  my  visit  was,  I 
had  ample  time  to  convince  myself  of  her  extremely  limited 
capacities.  She  has  the  manners  of  a  bourgeoise  from  the 
provinces,  and  once  more  I  had  a  glaring  proof  of  the  strange 
fact  that  the  cleverest  men  often  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
stupidest,  ugliest  women.  I  wonder  why  it  should  be  so?  I 
believe  that  with  most  men,  and  old  ones  in  particular,  it  is  a 
question  of  habit.  And  so  it  is  with  Talleyrand  probably.  The 
woman  thoroughly  understood  his  peculiarities  and  his  tastes, 
indeed  to  the  extent — so  Monsieur  de  Volnay  said  maliciously 
the  other  evening — of  affording  the  old  roue  opportunities  of 
meeting  ladies  in  her  salons  with  whom  he  could  satisfy  his 
taste  for  a  little  change  of  company.  Hence  her  influence  over 
the  otherwise  astute  man. 

And  for  all  that,  you  cannot  help  being  surprised  that  this 
keen-witted  schemer  should  have  braved  the  Papal  thunders 
for  such  a  woman ! 

To  my  relief,  my  tete-a-tete  with  the  lady  did  not  last  very 
long.  The  Minister  soon  appeared  and  handed  me  the 
promised  letter,  whereupon  I  took  leave  of  the  strangely 
assorted  couple. 

This  letter,  my  dear  Annaliebe,  you  may  well  label  "  The 
Talleyrand,"  for  it  deals  almost  exclusively  with  him.  But  you 
take  such  a  sympathetic  interest  in  all  that  concerns  me  and 
my  affairs,  that  I  knew  you  would  like  to  know  the  details 
of  this  first  important  step  towards  gaining  my  object. 

I  shall  send  in  my  letter  of  recommendation  to-day  to 
Coulaincourt  in  his  new  character  of  Master  of  the  House- 
hold, accompanied  by  a  request  for  the  honour  of  an  audience 


212  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

with  Madame  Josephine,  and  then  await  further  developments. 
One  thing  I  look  forward  to  with  malicious  joy,  if  I  do  have 
an  audience,  and  that  is  Monsieur  le  Marquis'  face  when  he 
has  to  introduce  me  to  his  mistress. 

Oh,  it  is  a  queer  world,  Annaliebe,  and  I  often  feel  as  if 
my  former  life  here  was  only  a  dream.  A  dream  that  I  was 
ever  a  Lady-in-waiting  at  the  Tuileries,  a  dream  that  other 
princes  ever  ruled  here,  and,  finally,  a  cruel  dream  of  all  I  once 
suffered  in  this  city.  At  times,  even,  I  begin  to  doubt  if  this 
is  the  same  people  I  lived  among  nine  years  ago — it  seems 
like  another  race  altogether. 

Farewell,  my  soul's  beloved,  I  will  write  the  moment  any- 
thing fresh  occurs. 

My  faithful  love  to  you  and  yours. 

P.S. — Should  you  chance  to  meet  any  one  from  Berlin, 
please  find  out  more  for  me  about  the  Luchesinis;  it  would 
interest  me  to  hear  further  details  of  the  curious  pair. 

Part  of  Talleyrand's  enormous  fortune  found  its  way  later 
into  Prussia,  when  Duke  Edmond  de  Talleyrand  married  the 
Princess  of  Kurland  and  Sagan  and  so  acquired  the  Duke- 
dom of  Sagan.  His  sons,  the  Dukes  of  Valencay  and  of  Dino 
have  settled  in  Silesia,  where  they  have  considerable  landed 
property. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

TENTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  28th  Nivose  XI. 

My  darling  Annaliebe: 

"  L'homme  propose  mais  Dieu  dispose." — My  audience 
with  Madame  Josephine  has  fallen  through  for  the  present. 
But  I  must  tell  you  the  whole  story. 

I  sent  in  my  letter  of  recommendation  to  the  Marquis  in 
all  due  form  and  received  an  answer,  on  the  next  day  but  one, 
informing  me  that  Her  Excellency  Madame  Bonaparte  would 
be  pleased  to  receive  Mademoiselle  de  Courtot  at  12  o'clock 
on  the  1 6th  inst.  at  the  Palais  de  Malmaison.  There  were 
only  three  days  till  then,  so  you  may  imagine  that  I  was  in  a 
great  state  of  nervousness  as  to  whether  I  could  make  myself 
sufficiently  fine,  in  that  short  space,  to  present  myself  before 
so  critical  a  feminine  judge  as  the  elegant  Josephine. 

Edmee  threw  herself  into  the  breach,  and  we  instantly  set 
out  for  the  celebrated  Magazin  de  Modes  of  Messieurs  Des- 
preaux  and  Leroi,  where  we  bought  some  lovely  dress  ma- 
terial of  a  colour  called  "  gorge  de  pigeon."  Then  to 
Josephine's  own  Court  dressmaker,  Madame  Germon,  who 
actually  sent  me  home  the  dress  in  two  days'  time ! 

I  enclose  the  fashion-plate  on  which  the  costume  was 

modelled,  so  that  you  may  have  some  idea  of  how  your  Cecile 

213 


214  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

will  look  on  the  important  occasion.  I  shall  wear  a  jabot  of 
Flemish  lace  fastened  on  the  bosom  with  a  diamond  clasp, 
which  Edmee  will  kindly  lend  me.  My  hair  will  be  dressed 
a  I'antique  by  the  renowned  Monsieur  Duplan,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  an  enamel  and  diamond  coronet,  also  out  of  Edmee's 
jewel-box,  and  a  great  ostrich  plume  at  the  left  side.  You 
know,  dearest,  that  I  never  wear  anything  but  black  and  of 
the  simplest  design;  so  you  may  imagine  how  strange  I  felt 
when  I  first  tried  on  this  fashionable  garment  with  the  waist 
up  under  my  arms  and  its  long  train.  Nevertheless — now, 
do  not  laugh  at  your  old  friend — I  was  not  ill-pleased  at  my 
appearance.  The  chignon  of  airy  curls  gathered  high  at  the 
back  will  quite  suit  me,  I  think,  and  Edmee  declares  flatter- 
ingly that  I  shall  look  ten  years  younger. 

You  must  be  surprised,  my  Annaliebe,  that  I  still  write  of 
this  interview  in  the  future  tense,  but,  at  the  last  moment, 
my  audience  had  to  be  deferred  indefinitely. 

On  the  day  before  the  appointed  date,  Coulaincourt  sent 
me  word  that  Madame  had  met  with  a  slight  accident  and 
therefore  could  not  receive  me. 

It  appears  that  Madame  Josephine  was  visiting  a  friend  of 
hers,  a  Madame  de  Campis,  at  Plombieres.  Several  other 
ladies,  Madame  Savary,  I  think,  for  one,  were  there,  and  while 
sitting  in  the  drawing-room  one  of  them  happened  to  notice  a 
charming  little  English  terrier  in  the  street  below.  Josephine, 
who  is  very  fond  of  animals,  went  on  to  the  balcony  with  her 
hostess  to  look  at  the  dog,  but  hardly  had  they  set  foot  on  it 
than  the  balcony  broke  and  precipitated  both  ladies  into  the 
street.  Madame  de  Campis  fractured  her  hip,  but  Josephine 
escaped  with  a  few  slight  wounds  on  her  hands  and  arms — 
mere  scratches — but  she  is  in  bed,  suffering  from  nervous 


NAPOLEON  AT  THE  MINT.  21  j 

shock,  and  no  wonder.  The  First  Consul  is  said  to  have  been 
much  alarmed  and  upset  and  put  off  his  journey  to  Lyons 
for  several  days  in  consequence.  And  that  is  why  my  au- 
dience could  not  take  place.  I  am  very  glad,  however,  that 
the  lady — who  seems  to  be  deservedly  popular — came  off  with 
such  slight  injury.  It  might  have  been  a  very  ugly  accident. 

It  seems  to  me  the  nation  cannot  make  enough  of  its 
Bonaparte.  Every  week  you  find  the  statuesque  head — on 
which,  as  Lebrun  sang  the  other  night  at  the  Opera,  the 
Peace  of  the  World  is  founded — reproduced  in  some  new 
style,  sometimes  uglier,  sometimes  handsomer  than  the  origi- 
nal. From  the  reticules  of  the  ladies  it  has  now  passed  to 
the  newly  invented  paper  fans.  Of  all  the  portraits  I  have 
seen  as  yet,  that  by  David  seems  to  me  the  most  noteworthy. 
I  send  you  herewith  a  little  copy,  which  is  to  be  had  now  in 
all  the  shops.  Latterly,  too,  another  new  medal  was  struck 
on  which  he  is  associated  with  the  other  two  Consuls  in  the 
style  called,  in  numismatics,  "  capita  jugata,"  but  with  this 
peculiarity,  that  whereas  the  other  two  heads  are  merely  in- 
dicated, his  is  surrounded  by  a  nimbus  of  rays.  Beneath  is  an 
allegorical  group  and  the  words,  "  Peace  and  Plenty  under 
the  Consul's  rule  have  recalled  Art  and  Science." 

Apropos  of  numismatics  I  must  tell  you  a  story  Madame 
de  Guiche  told  us,  demonstrating  how  little  artistic  sense  the 
First  Consul  possesses.  New  five-franc  pieces  were  to  be 
issued,  and  it  was  necessary  that  Bonaparte  should  come  to 
the  Mint  to  decide  upon  the  portrait  to  be  used  for  the  stamp. 
The  Director  of  the  Musees  and  the  Mint,  Monsieur  Denon, 
a  litterateur  (he  wrote  a  description  of  Napoleon's  wonderful 
campaign  in  Egypt)  eminently  suited  to  the  post,  ordered  the 
head  man  of  the  department,  Magnier,  to  prepare  a  portrait 


2l6  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

of  the  Consul  in  a  few  days,  so  that  when  he  appeared  in  the 
Mint  he  might  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  coins  struck  on 
the  spot. 

Magnier  declined  to  do  this,  saying  the  time  was  too  short 
to  prepare  a  work  of  real  artistic  value,  and  that  the  Consul 
would  have  to  sit  to  him  for  the  portrait. 

Monsieur  Denon  persisting  in  his  demand,  however,  a 
subordinate  named  Thierry,  a  clever  but  superficial  workman, 
offered  to  carry  out  the  order  so  that  the  coins  should  be 
stamped  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  Consul ;  and  accordingly 
the  matter  was  entrusted  to  him. 

On  the  appointed  day  Bonaparte  appeared  in  the  Mint 
with  a  numerous  following.  The  moment  he  entered  the 
machine  room  the  wheels  were  set  in  motion,  the  stamping  be- 
gan, and  shortly  afterwards  Monsieur  Denon  was  able  to  hand 
to  the  Consul  the  first  of  the  new  five-franc  pieces  stamped 
with  a  tolerably  successful  Bonaparte  head.  The  Consul  ex- 
pressed himself  as  entirely  satisfied  and  gave  the  order  on  the 
spot  for  the  two  million  five-franc  pieces. 

Properly  speaking,  the  Consul  has  no  right  whatever  to 
issue  such  an  order  on  his  own  account,  the  sanction  of  the 
entire  corps  legislatif  being  necessary,  but  it  is  an  open  secret 
that  this  body  has  become  a  mere  cipher  in  Bonaparte's  hands, 
and  he  acts  as  autocratically  as  he  pleases. 

But  there  was  a  sequel  to  the  story. — The  two  million  coins 
were  duly  struck  and  ready  for  issue  in  ten  days,  but  alas, 
Monsieur  Denon  and  his  spirited  young  colleague  had  for- 
gotten, in  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  that  these  five-franc  pieces 
were  not  medals  but  the  ordinary  coin  of  commerce,  and  had 
made  the  stamp  in  such  high  relief  that  the  coins  could  not  be 
laid  on  the  top  of  one  another,  and  were  thus  totally  unfit  for 


CARNIVAL  TIME.  2 1/ 

business  purposes.  So  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  con- 
sign the  whole  two  millions  once  more  to  the  melting-pot  and 
have  them  re-struck,  whereby  the  deeply  offended  Magnier 
got  his  rights ;  but  the  whole  affair  cost  a  great  deal  of  money 
and  the  First  Consul  had  to  suffer  much  annoyance  at  the 
hands  of  the  ever  watchful  caricaturists. 

For  painting,  too,  the  Consul  seems  to  have  little  appre- 
ciation, never  giving  any  commissions  but  for  his  own  por- 
trait— David's  extraordinary  picture  of  the  General  prancing 
up  the  St.  Bernhard  on  a  dapple-grey  charger  had  to  be  copied 
several  times.  The  only  branch  of  Art  he  has  any  real  taste 
for  is  the  tragic  drama,  more  especially  when  acted  by  his 
favourite  Talma.  I  will  tell  you  more  about  this  actor  after 
I  have  seen  him,  which  will  happen  before  long,  I  think.  He 
is  expected  back  shortly  from  Italy,  where  he  has  been  spend- 
ing three  months  for  the  good  of  his  overworked  voice. 

The  Carnival  time  has  been  particularly  uproarious  and 
gay  this  year.  When  we  drive  out,  the  streets,  especially  the 
Rue  Richelieu  and  Rue  St.  Honore,  are  full  of  masks  till  late 
into  the  night.  Plaster  mice,  confetti,  and  straw  wreaths  were 
thrown  into  our  carriage  and  there  were  roars  of  inextin- 
guishable laughter  if  anybody  chanced  to  be  hit.  They  say 
that  the  government  has  expended  an  enormous  sum  on  pro- 
moting this  apparently  spontaneous  display  of  festivity  among 
the  populace — it  cost  the  police  30,000  francs  on  Mardi  Gras 
alone  for  the  masqueraders  they  provided.  This  plan  of  rilling 
the  streets  with  paid  masks  was  entirely  done  away  with  under 
the  last  reigns;  it  seems  a  pity  that  the  new  regime  should 
have  to  fall  back  on  it  again.  A  disagreeable  intermezzo  to 
this  joyous  Saturnalia  has  been  furnished  by  the  thunder-bolts 
launched  by  the  Jupiter  of  the  Tuileries  against  some  of  the 


2l8  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS, 

aristocrats  who  were  foolhardy  enough  to  express  their  disap- 
proval of  certain  measures  adopted  by  the  present  govern- 
ment. The  Marquise  de  Champanetz,  for  instance,  was  given 
one  hour  to  prepare  for  banishment  to  Antwerp,  with  the  al- 
ternative of  taking  up  her  abode  in  the  Temple.  It  quite 
carries  one  back  to  the  days  of  the  lettres  de  cachet.  And  this 
although  the  Marquise  was  one  of  the  most  universally  popular 
ladies  and  quite  at  home  in  Josephine's  set. 

Since  Peace  was  definitely  concluded  and  people  have  be- 
come reassured  as  to  the  future,  foreigners  are  streaming  into 
Paris  in  extraordinary  numbers,  especially  Germans,  who 
readily  obtain  employment,  being  well  known  for  their  in- 
dustry and  trustworthiness.  You  cannot  think  how  refresh- 
ing it  is  to  me  to  hear  the  familiar  accents  of  my  adopted 
country  once  more — and  to  speak  it  too!  I  went  into  a  glove 
shop  the  other  day  and  at  once  divined  the  nationality  of  the 
blonde  girl  behind  the  counter.  You  should  have  seen  how 
her  blue  eyes  lit  up  when  I  addressed  her  in  German.  The  con- 
stant intercourse  between  France  and  Germany  during  the 
long  wars  seems  to  have  removed  a  good  deal  of  mutual 
prejudice,  and  I  hear  that  many  people  have  begun  to  learn 
German  in  order  to  study  the  literature  in  the  original,  transla- 
tions being  as  a  rule  but  poor  affairs.  There  are  German  read- 
ing parties,  German  clubs,  even  a  German  theatre  up  till  a 
short  time  ago,  but  that  has  evidently  come  to  grief,  for  when 
Edmee  and  I  went  there  one  evening  we  found  that  the  Di- 
rector, a  Herr  Haselmeier,  had  just  vanished,  leaving  the  poor 
company  in  the  lurch. 

There  is  no  doubt  too  that  French  literature  is  beginning 
to  bloom  out  again  in  the  genial  atmosphere  after  the  long 
jwinter  of  the  Revolution.  Delille,  Mason,  and  many  others 


THE  AERONAUT  GARNERIN. 

have  arisen  to  charm  us  with  their  writings,  and  the  older 
poets,  such  as  Racine,  Corneille,  Boileau,  and  Lafontaine  are 
receiving  fresh  appreciation.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  state 
of  things  will  continue  and  soon  obliterate  all  traces  of  the 
degrading  effects  of  the  Terror. 

We  consoled  ourselves  for  our  disappointment  about  the 
German  theatre  by  going  to  the  Place  des  Victoires  to  see  the 
Aeronaut  Garnerin  go  up  with  his  wife  in  a  balloon,  a  specta- 
cle which  was  quite  new  to  me.  As  we  approached  the  Place 
we  caught  sight  of  the  great  air  balloon  floating  about  five 
feet  above  the  heads  of  the  assembled  crowd.  It  was  made  of 
silk  and  ornamented  with  enormous  initials — N.  B. — in  honour 
of  the  First  Consul.  Under  it  burned  a  fire  of  wood  and  straw 
which  inflated  it  with  warm  air,  till  the  balloon  must  inevitably 
have  flown  up  into  the  sky  had  it  not  been  restrained  with 
ropes  held  by  at  least  a  hundred  people.  To  the  balloon  was 
attached  a  great  basket  into  which  the  bold  aeronaut  and  his 
wife  proceeded  to  climb.  He  then  fired  off  a  pistol  as  a  signal 
for  the  people  to  let  go  the  ropes,  and  the  balloon  mounted 
majestically  into  the  air  amid  the  deafening  applause  of  the 
crowd.  It  was  borne  along  on  the  current  of  wind  at  a  height 
of  about  500  feet  and  presently  the  aeronaut  threw  out  a  little 
dog  attached  to  a  parachute,  the  poor  little  creature  landing, 
quite  unhurt  but  as  wet  as  if  it  had  come  out  of  the  water,  on 
the  roof  of  a  house,  from  whence  it  was  rescued  by  a  chimney- 
sweep. Meanwhile  the  balloon  came  down  without  any  injury 
to  itself  or  its  daring  occupants  at  Gonesse,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Seine,  but  we  heard  afterwards  that  the  frightened 
peasants,  taking  it  for  the  work  of  the  Devil,  had  torn  it  in  a 
thousand  pieces — a  terrible  pecuniary  loss  to  its  owner.  I  was 
very  sorry  for  the  poor  aeronaut  and  trust  he  will  soon  be  able 


220  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

to  replace  it — they  say  the  exhibition  draws  enormous  crowds. 
There,  my  Annaliebe,  I  have  had  another  long,  long  gos- 
sip with  you !  Each  day  brings  so  many  new  sights  and  im- 
pressions that  I  could  go  on  writing  pages.  I  hope  in  my 
next  letter  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  I  have  seen  Madame 
Josephine  and  so  advanced  another  step  in  my  affairs.  And 
now,  fare  thee  well,  my  darling — the  best  of  greetings  to  all 
my  dear  friends  and  hearty  congratulations  to  the  Herr  Can- 
didatus  on  his  engagement.  May  dear  little  Kathchen  be 
very  happy  at  his  side  and  perhaps  lighten  his  pedantry  just 
the  least  little  bit! 

Touts  a  toi, 

CECILE. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
ELEVENTH  LETTER. 

PAWS,  i6th  Pluviose  XI. 
Palais  Brancas. 

My  sweetest  Friend: 

This  is  going  to  be  another  of  my  long  letters,  for  so 
much  has  happened  to  me  in  these  last  few  days  that  I  hardly 
know  where  to  begin. 

Well,  my  audience  with  the  all-powerful  Madame  Jose- 
phine has  taken  place.  Thank  Heaven,  I  have  that  behind  me ! 

On  the  6th  of  February,  I  received  notice  that  Madame 
would  see  me  the  next  day  at  12  in  the  Chateau  de  Mal- 
maison.  Accordingly  I  began  my  toilette  early  on  the  event- 
ful day  and  am  bound  to  confess  that  I  was  well  pleased  with 
the  result  when  it  was  finished.  Goodness  knows,  I  had  no 
idea  of  making  conquests ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  did  not  wish 
to  appear  in  a  pre-historic  costume  at  this  ultra  new-fashioned 
Court,  and  so  was  glad  that  the  various  artists  to  whom  I  was 
indebted  for  my  smart  appearance  had  done  their  work  so 
well. 

Warmly  ensconced  in  Edmee's  carriage,  I  drove  out 
through  the  bright  wintry  sunshine  to  Malmaison,  reaching 
my  destination  a  little  before  12. 

The  Chateau  and  even  the  park  surrounding  it  were  much 

changed  from  what  I  remembered.    I  heard  from  Edmee  that 

221 


222  LETTERS  FkuM  THE  BARONESS. 

Bonaparte  found  the  beautiful  property  in  a  terribly  dilapi- 
dated condition  on  his  return  from  Egypt,  and  that  Madame 
Josephine  had  incurred  a  mass  of  debt  on  it  which  her  hus- 
band had  to  pay — over  a  million  francs,  I  believe.  However, 
he  had  both  Chateau  and  park  put  in  repair,  and  Madame  dis- 
played a  very  elegant  taste  in  the  laying  out  of  the  latter.  / 

As  I  drove  through  the  great  avenue  leading  to  the 
Chateau,  I  met  a  cavalcade  composed  of  two  young  ladies 
and  several  gentlemen,  in  one  of  whom,  to  my  intense  aston- 
ishment, I  recognised  the  Prince  de  Poix.  Edmee's  old  man- 
servant sitting  beside  the  coachman  replied,  on  my  question- 
ing him,  that  one  of  the  ladies  was  the  sister  and  the  other 
the  step-daughter  of  the  First  Consul. 

Of  course  I  looked  then  with  increased  interest  at  the  two 
beautiful  young  creatures  of  whom  I  had  heard  so  much,  par- 
ticularly since  their  marriage  on  the  same  day  had  created 
such  a  sensation: — Caroline  Bonaparte's  civil  marriage  with 
General  Murat  having  received  the  sanction  of  the  Church 
on  the  same  day  that  Hortense  Beauharnais  was  forced  to 
marry  the  Consul's  brother  Louis.  I  will  return  to  this  later 
on  and  give  you  further  details.  One  of  the  gentlemen,  ac- 
cording to  Baptiste,  was  General  Murat  himself,  besides  which 
I  noticed  Monsieur  de  TAigle,  whom  I  was  as  much  surprised 
to  see  here  as  the  Prince  de  Poix.  "  Oh,  oh,  messieurs,"  I 
thought  to  myself,  "  how  does  this  fit  in  with  your  remarks 
the  other  evening  at  Madame  de  Montesson's?  " 

But  now  my  carriage  emerged  from  the  avenue,  and  the 
palace  with  its  wide  flight  of  steps  lay  before  me.  For  the 
imposing  household  of  the  First  Consul  it  looked  to  me  de- 
cidedly inadequate;  indeed,  Madame  Josephine  said  after- 
wards that  she  would  only  be  there  for  a  few  weeks  longer 


VISIT  TO  MALMAISON.  22$ 

and  was  then  going  into  residence  at  St.  Cloud.  General 
Berthier  would,  in  all  probability,  receive  her  beloved  Mal- 
maison;  the  Consul  was  said  to  have  promised  it  to  him. 

I  should  think,  however,  that  the  real  reason  for  the 
change  is  that  Bonaparte  has  taken  a  dislike  to  the  place 
since  the  attempt  made  on  his  life  a  short  time  ago.  A  snuff- 
box, almost  exactly  similar  to  the  one  used  by  the  Consul, 
was  placed  upon  his  writing-table  filled  with  poisoned  snuff. 
Bonaparte,  toying  idly  with  it  for  some  time,  happened  to 
look  more  closely  at  the  figures  on  it  and  noticed  some  slight 
differences.  The  matter  was  at  once  investigated  and  the 
snuff  discovered  to  be  highly  poisoned. 

On  alighting  at  the  Chateau  I  was  received  by  the  maitre 
du  palais,  who,  on  my  presenting  my  card,  conducted  me  to 
the  Marquis  de  Coulaincourt.  By  him  I  was  then  ushered 
into  a  reception  room  with  chairs  stiffly  ranged  along  the 
walls.  Several  ladies  were  seated  here  engaged  in  lively  con- 
versation, among  whom,  to  my  renewed  surprise,  I  again 
found  some  old  friends. 

The  first  to  hurry  towards  me  was  Madame  de  Campan. 
Mon  Dieu,  the  things  that  had  happened  since  I  last  saw  the 
governess  of  the  Royal  children  in  the  Temple !  Was  it  con- 
ceivable that  she  should  have  forgotten  it  all  and  accepted 
a  place  in  Madame  Josephine's  household  ?  But  the  first 
words  she  whispered  to  me  as  she  embraced  me  tearfully  dis- 
pelled this  thought.  She  told  me  that  she  had  a  girls'  school 
in  St.  Germain-en-Laye  in  which  Hortense  Beauharnais  had 
been  educated,  and  that  she  had  come  to-day  with  some  of 
Hortense's  former  schoolfellows  to  congratulate  her  on  her 
marriage.  These  young  ladies  she  proceeded  to  present  to 
me— a  most  striking,  dark-haired  American,  called  Eliza 


224  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Murray,  and  two  charming  sisters,  Adele  and  Eglee  Augnier. 
I  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Madame  Savary,  the  grace- 
ful Madame  Junot,  and  Madame  Hamelin,  who,  after  Madame 
Tallien,  is  the  most  noted  of  our  Mervilleuses.  Edmee  had 
already  told  me  of  her  eccentric  and  ultra-modish  toilettes, 
and  to-day  she  wore  an  under-petticoat  of  white  satin  with 
a  tunic  of  green  silk  crepe  trimmed  with  gold  spangles  and 
fringes,  while  a  gold-embroidered  green  bandeau  was  wound 
through  her  hair.  The  costume  was  somewhat  bizarre,  but 
became  her  admirably.  She  is  about  thirty  and  in  the  full 
bloom  of  her  beauty,  with  a  pair  of  glowing  dark  eyes,  a 
charming  little  mouth  with  rather  full  red  lips,  a  complexion 
like  ivory,  with  a  delicate  peachy  flush  on  her  cheeks.  Her 
fair  white  brow  is  framed  in  naturally  waving,  unpowdered 
golden  hair  gathered  into  a  Greek  knot  behind,  from  which 
the  most  fascinating  little  curls  peep  out  inquisitively.  I  de- 
scribe her  to  you  so  particularly  because  she  is  one  of  Madame 
Josephine's  most  intimate  friends  and  has  much  influence  over 
her. 

And  who  was  there  besides?  Four  young  ladies  of  whom 
I  should  never  have  believed  it.  The  Marquis  presented  them 
to  me  under  a  decidedly  peculiar  title.  '"  Madame  de  Re- 
musat,"  he  said,  "  and  Mesdemoiselles  de  Talhuet,  de  Lucai, 
and  de  Lauriston,  four  ladies  appointed  by  the  Consul  to  assist 
Madame  in  doing  the  honours  of  the  palace." — I  must  say,  I 
did  not  think  to  find  Adele  Talhuet  and  Eglee  Lucai  here  as 
Josephine's  Maids  of  Honour — for  of  course  that  is  the  plain 
meaning  of  the  ambiguous  title — after  all  I  heard  at  Madame 
de  Montesson's. 

And  you  should  have  heard  the  fluttering  and  whispering 
among  the  ladies  when  the  Marquis  pronounced  my  name! 


JOSEPHINE'S  EARLY  LIFE.  22$ 

From  their  manner  I  plainly  read  the  question — "  What  is  she 
doing  here? — we  thought  she  was  long  since  dead."  I  felt  a 
hundred  years  old,  and  could  not  but  smile  sadly  as  I  realised 
what  an  enormous  gap  even  nine  short  years  can  make  in  a 
life!  However,  I  took  my  dear  little  god-daughter  Adele 
Talhuet  joyfully  in  my  arms  and  welcomed  Eglee  Lucai  as  a 
daughter  of  my  old  friends.  Both  had  grown  up  to  be  beauti- 
ful dark-eyed  girls. 

We  then  seated  ourselves  and  waited. 

Dear  me,  how  little  I  thought,  ten  years  ago,  that  I  should 
ever  sit  waiting  thus  in  Josephine  Tacher's  ante-chamber!  In- 
voluntarily I  fell  to  dreaming  of  the  past  and  recalled  how  sur- 
prised every  one  was  at  the  little  Creole's  good  fortune — there 
was  already  a  good  deal  of  gossip  in  circulation  about  her  life 
before  she  came  to  Paris — in  being  chosen  by  the  Marquis  de 
Beauharnais  for  his  wife.  Their  happiness  was  short-lived, 
however,  and  they  had  not  been  married  five  years  when  there 
were  rumours  of  the  Marquis  divorcing  his  wife  for  her  dis- 
creditable behaviour.  In  any  case,  they  had  lived  apart  a  long 
time  when  the  Marquis*  fate  overtook  him  and  he  was  guil- 
lotined in  company  with  the  Prince  of  Salm-Kyrburg  and  that 
unfortunate  Baron  Trenk,  whose  romantic  love  story  with 
Frederick  the  Great's  sister  Ulricke  you  once  told  me.— We 
none  of  us  could  discover  from  what  source  Madame  Josephine 
derived  her  income  afterwards.  She  spoke  of  a  large  in- 
heritance in  Martinique,  but  she  lived  in  most  indifferent  cir- 
cumstances. Edmee  was  telling  me  only  a  few  days  ago  how 
she  had  met  the  lady  at  that  time  in  the  house  of  Claude  de 
Beauharnais,  Comte  des  Roches  Baritaud,  whose  wife,  when 
Josephine  appeared  in  a  marvellous  robe  of  pale  blue  velvet, 


226  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

had  declared  to  Edmee  that  Josephine  possessed  five  gala 
dresses  but  only  two  chemises. 

The  position  of  the  beautiful  Creole  was,  as  you  see,  a 
very  doubtful  one  under  the  old  regime,  and  I  am  sure  Bona- 
parte might  have  made  a  better  match  had  he  consented  to 
unite  himself  with  the  aristocratic  party  in  those  days. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  his  choice  seems  to  have  turned  out  well, 
for  every  one  agrees  in  saying  that  her  life  now  is  quite  with- 
out reproach,  and  whether  he  married  her  out  of  calculation 
or  not,  he  certainly  was  madly  in  love  with  her  afterwards. 

I  was  awakened  out  of  my  dreams  by  a  movement  among 
the  ladies,  who  now  all  stood  up  as  the  Marquis  opened  the 
door  of  an  adjoining  salon  and  entered  it.  There  was  a  brief 
pause  and  then  a  knock  on  the  parquet  floor  of  the  same  room 
— yes,  Annaliebe,  just  as  in  the  old  days  of  Royalty!  The 
doors  were  then  thrown  open  by  two  gentlemen-in-waiting  in 
petite  tenue,  and  preceded  by  the  Marquis  and  followed  by  her 
cousin  Madame  de  Valette  and  her  son  Eugene,  Madame 
Josephine  made  her  entry. 

Let  me  say,  en  passant>  that  I  have  seldom  seen  a  more 
pleasing  and  sympathetic  face  than  that  of  this  youth  of 
twenty.  He  is  remarkably  handsome,  very  graceful  and 
elegant  in  his  movements,  and  has  more  the  air  of  the  grand 
seigneur  of  former  times  than  the  modern  Incroyable. 

I  had  withdrawn  somewhat  behind  the  other  ladies  in  order 
to  have  a  good  look  at  -the  much  talked  of  beauty,  the  all-pow- 
erful Madame  Josephine,  who  could  sometimes  bend  the  iron 
will  of  the  great  Consul. 

What,  I  thought,  is  there  no  such  thing  as  Time  the  De- 
stroyer? Have  the  years  passed  over  her  without  leaving  a 
single  trace? — Standing  there  against  the  background  of  vio- 


DESCRIPTION   OF  JOSEPHINE.  227 

let  velvet  portiere,  she  seemed  to  me  the  very  same  girl  I  had 
met  years  ago  at  the  house  of  Talleyrand's  cousin,  Madame  de 
Casaux. 

Her  waving  chestnut  hair  may  have  become  somewhat 
thinner  with  time,  but  who  is  to  say  now-a-days  where  nature 
leaves  off  and  art  begins?  Her  peculiar  ivory-pale  complex- 
ion, which  I  remembered  of  old,  may  have  grown  a  little  faded 
and  yellow,  but  I  was  unable  to  judge,  for  the  red  and  white 
was  so  artistically  mingled  and  laid  on  that  her  skin  was  like 
lilies  and  roses.  But  the  charming  mouth,  the  bewitching, 
slightly  retrousse  nose,  the  almost  night-black  eyes  with  their 
long  lashes  and  the  glance  that  flashed  out  so  strangely  at 
times  were  unaltered;  and  her  voice  has  a  most  enthralling 
sweetness.  Her  figure  is,  if  anything,  more  beautiful  than 
ever;  she  is  slender  and  yet  admirably  round,  and  no  tight 
lacing  trammels  the  grace  and  freedom  of  her  movements. 
Altogether,  she  reminds  one  in  her  languid  exquisite  grace  of 
a  full-blown  rose — a  rose  that  must  ere  long  drop  its  petals. 

I  wish  I  could  show  you  the  portrait  Edmee  possesses  of 
her,  painted  by  Gerard; — the  wanton,  straying  curls,  the 
coquetry  of  the  glance — it  is  herself  with  all  her  alluring  faults 
and  charming  weaknesses.  I  hear  that  this  picture  is  to  be  re- 
produced, and  if  so  you  shall  have  a  copy,  though  the  en- 
graving unfortunately  gives  one  no  idea  of  the  colouring. 

But  I  had  no  more  time  to  observe  her,  for  she  was  ap- 
proaching me.  Before  the  Marquis  could  mention  my  name 
she  hurried  forward  with  outstretched  hands — "  Oh  Cecile," 
she  exclaimed,  "  can  it  be  really  you?  Surely  there  was  no 
need  of  all  this  formality  before  seeing  one  another?  Why 
have  you  waited  so  long? — -I  expected  you  ever  since  I  heard 


228  LETTERS   FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

of  your  arrival  in  Paris."  And  with  that  she  drew  me  up  from 
my  deep  curtsey  by  both  hands. 

I  must  own  that  I  was  completely  won  by  her  irresistible 
charm  of  voice  and  manner  and  responded  in  the  same  tone, 
and  you  know,  my  Annaliebe,  that  if  I  want  to  make  myself 
very  agreeable  I  generally  succeed — at  least,  so  you  have  often 
told  me,  you  dear  little  flatterer. 

Madame  Josephine  then  drew  me  down  beside  her  on  a 
sofa  and  whispered  rapidly — "  You  have  come  about  the  res- 
titution of  your  family  property,  have  you  not?  I  will  speak  to 
Bonaparte  about  it.  You  need  have  no  fear — it  shall  be  ar- 
ranged," and  she  took  my  hand  in  her  small  slender  ones,  on 
which  the  red  marks  of  the  recent  wounds  were  still  visible, 
and  pressed  it  affectionately. 

"  Of  course  the  decision  lies  in  Bonaparte's  hands,"  she 
continued  when  I  tried  to  express  my  thanks.  "  He  will  wish 
to  talk  it  over  with  you  personally.  I  expect  him  back  from 
Lyons  very  soon  and  will  do  all  I  can  for  you  with  the  Consul. 
Yes,  mesdames,"  she  said,  turning  to  the  other  ladies,  "  I  was 
dreadfully  anxious  about  the  First  Consul,  especially  as  I  could 
not  accompany  him  this  time  as  I  invariably  do.  Lyons  with 
its  excitable,  revolutionary  elements  was  bad  enough,  but  to 
have  this  crowd  of  Italian  deputies  added,  who  want  to  sub- 
mit their  list  of  possible  presidents  to  Bonaparte's  approval, 
frightened  me,  so  that  I  have  hardly  closed  my  eyes  the  last 
few  nights.  However,"  she  went  on  with  a  brilliant  smile, 
"  my  fears  were,  thank  Heaven,  quite  unfounded — once  again 
my  star  watched  over  Bonaparte.  I  have  just  received  news  that 
the  matter  is  successfully  concluded.  I  am  sure  you  will  con- 
gratulate me,  ladies,  when  I  tell  you  that  Bonaparte  has  ac- 
cepted the  Presidentship  himself;  he  is  now  the  Ruler — I  mean 


THE  NEW  FANCY  WORK.  229 

of  course,"  she  corrected  herself  hastily,  "the  head  of  the 
Cisalpine  Republic  as  well  as  our  own." 

We  all  rose  and  offered  her  our  congratulations  in  due 
form,  and  again  I  had  good  occasion  to  observe  the  tact  and 
charm  with  which  she  said  something  pretty  and  appropriate 
to  each  lady  in  turn.  She  is  really  fascinating,  an'd  though 
now  that  I  was  quite  close  to  her  and  realised  how  much  of 
her  charming  appearance  was  due  to  art  and  a  consummate 
knowledge  of  how  to  make  the  utmost  of  her  waning  beauty, 
I  perfectly  understood  the  glamour  she  exercises  over  the 
Consul  and  indeed  every  one  with  whom  she  comes  in  contact. 

She  was  good  enough  to  beg  me  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  day 
with  her  and  sent  one  of  her  carriages  at  the  same  time  for 
Edmee  to  join  us.  I  must  admit,  dear  Annaliebe,  that  I  was 
by  no  means  unwilling  to  stay — no  one  could  withstand  the 
extraordinary  charm  of  this  woman — and  she  promised  us  a 
treat  in  the  shape  of  a  delightful  little  play,  "  Les  fausses  con- 
sultations" to  be  acted  that  evening  in  her  small  private  theatre 
by  her  two  children  and  several  friends. 

We  then  repaired  to  an  adjoining  salon,  decorated  entirely 
in  blue,  and  the  ladies  grouped  themselves  round  Madame  in 
front  of  a  delightful,  glowing  fire,  laughing  and  talking  in  the 
pleasant  unrestrained  manner  that  made  me  think  of  our 
never-to-be-forgotten  cercles  in  the  Petit-Trianon.  Most  of  the 
ladies  were  busily  employed  with  a  kind  of  fancy  work  which 
was  quite  new  to  me.  They  had  a  quantity  of  real  gold  threads 
which  they  knotted  and  twined  into  all  sorts  of  charming  de- 
vices, such  as  chains  and  bracelets.  The  goldsmiths  provided 
delicate  clasps  and  fastenings  expressly  for  this  work,  a  little 
box  full  of  them  standing  for  general  use  on  the  table.  These 


23O  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

clasps  are  of  the  most  fragile  filigree  work  in  highly  artistic 
designs. 

Observing  my  interest  in  the  work,  Madame  Josephine  sent 
for  a  packet  of  gold  thread  and  wove  it  rapidly  with  her  clever 
little  fingers  into  this  dainty  bracelet  which  I  have  much 
pleasure  in  passing  on  to  you,  dearest,  as  a  memento  of  a  very 
important  day  in  your  friend's  life. 

Looking  round  upon  the  company,  I  could  not  help  think- 
ing of  the  old  ladies  at  Madame  de  Montesson's  and  wondered 
what  they  would  say  if  they  saw  me  sitting  here.  And  then  I 
recalled  Talleyrand's  prophecy :  "  You  will  see — they  will  all 
come — all."  And  after  all,  why  should  they  not?  Do  I  lower 
myself  in  any  way  when  I  accept  my  family  possessions  again 
from  the  hand  that  struck  down  the  wretches  who  tore  it  from 
me? 

Nor  can  my  fidelity  to  my  beloved  Royal  House  be  in  any 
degree  diminished  by  my  associating  now  with  those  who 
dragged  my  country  out  of  the  moral  slough  into  which  it  had 
sunk,  and  raised  it  to  a  position  which  excites  the  wonder  and 
envy  of  the  whole  world. 

I  make  this  little  declaration  now,  dear  heart,  lest  you 
should  think  me  fickle  and  disloyal.  But  you  will  have  noticed 
that  with  each  letter  my  admiration  for  the  man  who  has 
evolved  a  new  world  out  of  chaos  increases.  I  still  cannot 
grasp  how  this  foreigner,  this  Corsican,  has  managed  to  cast 
such  a  glamour  over  this  nation  of  mine,  otherwise  so  jealous 
of  its  rights.  Well,  I  suppose  it  is  because  he  follows  the  old 
plan  of  giving  them  "panem  et  circenses"  and  that  goes  a  very 
long  way  here. 

Please  be  so  kind  as  to  read  my  quotation  very  particularly 
to  the  Herr  Doctor  Vultejus,  that  he  may  see  how  little  I  have 


JOSEPHINE'S  KNOWLEDGE  OF  HUMAN  NATURE.        23! 

forgotten  of  what  he  taught  me.  I  trust  he  will  accord  me  due 
appreciation. 

But  to  return  to  our  cercle.  I  had  to  give  Madame 
Josephine  many  details  of  my  life  in  Prussia.  You  would  not 
believe  how  well  informed  she  is  on  the  subject  of  your 
country,  and  as  to  Queen  Luise,  she  spoke  of  her  with  positive 
enthusiasm. 

*Tt  interested  me  very  much  to  observe  how  rapidly  things 
are  drifting  on  towards  a  Monarchy.  Madame  Hamelin  told 
me  of  an  incident  in  the  Italian  wars  which  was  new  to  me,  il- 
lustrating this  tendency  very  vividly.  When,  on  the  conclusion 
of  peace,  the  Milan  ecclesiastics  asked  the  General  how  he 
wished  to  be  received  on  his  entry  into  the  city,  he  replied:. 
"  come  Imperatore."  And  this  was  five  years  ago!  A  fond, 
proud  smile  lit  up  Josephine's  features  at  this  anecdote;  she 
said  nothing,  but  her  eyes  beamed  as  if  she  already  saw  the 
crown  upon  her  husband's  head.  I  expect  she  is  well  aware 
of  his  plans  for  the  future. 

Altogether,  she  shows  a  remarkable  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  has  the  most  skilful — though  perfectly  graceful — 
knack  of  drawing  out  her  companions.  Madame  de  Campan 
whispered  to  me  that  one  must  be  careful  what  one  said  before 
her,  as  Madame  Josephine  was  fond  of  entertaining  the  Consul 
with  any  anecdote  or  little  scandal  she  could  gather  from  the 
conversation  around  her. 

Presently  the  famous  painter  Isabey  was  announced,  and 
I  was  not  a  little  interested  to  meet  this  favourite  artist.  He 
is  a  man  of  about  thirty,  with  an  intellectual  and  handsome  face 
and  very  engaging  manners.  He  regretted  not  seeing  Madame 
Murat  and  Madame  Hortense,  with  whom  he  daily  plays  a 
game  of  "  jeu  des  barres." 


232  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Meanwhile  it  was  time  for  the  Dejeuner,  and  several  of  the 
ladies  took  their  leave.  Madame  de  Campan  remained,  how- 
ever, with  her  pupils,  also  Madame  Hamelin,  the  four  dames 
d'atour,  Eugene  Beauharnais,  and  Isabey,  whom  Madame 
Josephine  invited  to  share  the  meal. 

I  took  advantage  of  the  departure  of  the  other  ladies  to 
have  a  little  conversation  with  Adele  Talhuet  and  to  ask  after 
her  parents.  Poor  little  Adele,  who  with  her  soft  dark  eyes 
and  glowing  tints  looks  the  thoroughbred  Vendeenne  she  is, 
told  me  her  sad  story,  and  how  she,  a  daughter  of  the  Chouans, 
came  to  be  in  the  service  of  the  Consul's  wife.  Pressing  fondly 
to  my  side  she  told  me  how  her  old  father,  like  mine,  had  fallen 
a  victim  to  the  Terror  and  her  mother  had  remained  for  a  long 
time  in  hiding  with  relations  in  the  Vendee.  When  the  fright- 
ful conflict  between  the  Vendeans  and  the  Government  troops 
under  Bernadotte  broke  out,  Madame  Talhuet  fled  with  her 
daughter  to  Holland,  where  she  lived  for  some  years  in  great 
penury,  supporting  them  both  by  the  labour  of  her  hands.  On 
Bonaparte's  appointment  to  be  First  Consul,  she  returned  to 
Paris  and  made  all  sorts  of  attempts  to  earn  money,  but  with- 
out success — things  seemed  only  to  go  from  bad  to  worse.  At 
length,  she  turned  in  despair  to  Madame  Laetitia,  Bonaparte's 
mother,  who  procured  her  an  audience  of  the  First  Consul. 

This  interview  chanced  to  take  place  on  the  day  following 
the  attempt  on  Bonaparte's  life  with  the  infernal  machine.  The 
First  Consul  received  Madame  Talhuet  in  the  presence  of  the 
Minister  of  Police,  Fouche.  As  she  stood  trembling  before 
the  all-powerful  Consul,  trying  to  find  words  in  which  to  ex- 
press her  humble  petition,  she  suddenly  had  the  happy  in- 
spiration to  congratulate  the  General  on  his  fortunate  escape. 
The  Consul  smiled  kindly,  and  then  turning  to  Fouche  said, 


BONAPARTE  AND  MADAME  TALHUET.       233 

in  his  brusquest  manner — "What  do  you  say  to  that?  Madame 
is  an  aristocrat;  she  belongs  to  one  of  the  highest  families  of 
the  Vendee,  and  yet  she  offers  me  her  congratulations  on  my 
deliverance  from  death.  Spare  me,  in  future,  these  everlasting 
insinuations  against  the  Vendeans,  who  have  absolutely  noth- 
ing left  to  them  but  their  firm  loyalty  to  their  King,  for  whom 
they  fight  like  heroes.  You  will  find  no  hole-and-corner 
assassins  amongst  them.  It  is  your  Jacobins  who  are  the 
traitors,  the  skulking  murderers,  and  not  the  Vendeans !  " 

The  Consul  then  granted  Madame  de  Talhuet  a  pension 
and  placed  Adele  in  Madame  Josephine's  Household  with  a 
salary  of  8000  francs.  This,  she  said,  enabled  her  to  assist 
her  dear  mother  as  well,  and  she  was  sincerely  grateful  to 
Bonaparte.  Madame  Josephine,  too,  was  extremely  kind  to 
her. 

So  you  see,  dear  Annaliebe,  this  strange  man  seems  to 
have  a  heart  in  his  breast,  after  all. 

Adele's  story  of  the  misery  she  and  her  mother  endured 
in  exile,  and  indeed  most  of  the  accounts  I  hear  of  the  emi- 
grants, poor  things,  makes  me  more  and  more  thankful  for 
my  inexpressible  good  fortune  in  falling  into  the  hands  of  such 
true  and  tender  friends  as  you,  my  dear  ones.  How  can  I 
ever  repay  you  for  the  great  gift  of  happiness  you  bestowed 
upon  me! 

And  now,  my  sweetest  Annaliebe,  I  must  close  this  volu- 
minous epistle  or  I  shall  never  be  able  to  send  it  off  at  all.    I 
will  reserve  the  rest  of  my  description  of  my  day  at  Mal- 
maison  for  my  next  letter.    Adieu,  dearest  heart. 
Ever  in  undying  affection 

Your  CECILE. 


234  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

The  Chateau  of  Malmaison  was  last  year  put  up  for  auc- 
tion in  a  state  of  utter  dilapidation.  Bought  by  Napoleon  in 
1789  for  100,000  francs,  it  was  not  presented  to  General  Ber- 
thier,  as  the  foregoing  letter  states,  but  remained  in  Jose- 
phine's possession  as  a  sort  of  dower-house.  After  her  death 
it  went  to  her  son,  Duke  Eugene  Beauharnais,  and  on  his 
demise  was  bought  by  a  Swedish  banker  for  250,000  francs. 
Queen  Christine  of  Spain  acquired  the  Chateau  in  1842,  from 
whom  Napoleon  III.  bought  it  for  the  sum  of  1,500,000 
francs  and  presented  it  to  the  Empress  Eugenie.  It  was  par- 
tially destroyed  during  the  siege  of  1870  and  now,  divided 
into  thirty  lots,  sold  by  auction.  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi ! 

The  promised  portrait  of  the  Empress  Josephine,  as  also 
the  filigree  bracelet  made  by  her,  were  among  the  posses- 
sions of  my  great-grandmother.  Both  were  left  by  her  will 
to  the  sister  of  my  grandfather  von  Liideritz  (husband  of 
Philippine  von  Alvensleben).  I  do  not  know  if  they  are  still 
in  existence. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 
TWELFTH  LETTER. 

PAWS,  ad  Ventose  XI. 

My  beloved  Annaliebe: 

I  have  let  a  week  pass  before  continuing1  my  account  of 
my  day  at  Malmaison,  and  I  have  seen  and  done  much  that  is 
interesting  and  worth  telling  you  in  between,  so  I  will  begin 
at  once  before  my  material  gets  beyond  all  due  limits. 

I  think  I  left  off  in  my  last  just  where  we  were  going  in  to 
the  dejeuner.  We  went  standing  about  in  groups,  when  the 
lacqueys  suddenly  threw  open  the  great  folding  doors  and 
two  ladies  entered  whom  I  at  once  recognised  as  the  fair  riders 
I  had  seen  in  the  avenue.  Madame  Hortense  at  once  flew  to 
her  mother  and  embraced  her  tenderly  and  then  greeted  us 
with  a  pleasant  bow.  Josephine  then  presented  me  to  both 
ladies,  who  each  had  a  little  graceful  remark  for  me. 

As  you  may  imagine,  it  was  to  Madame  Hortense  that  my 
sympathies  were  more  especially  drawn,  and  her  beauty  and 
charm  attracted  me  from  the  first.  She  has  her  mother's  deli- 
cate, spirituelle  features,  only  that  the  aquiline  nose,  night- 
black  eyes  and  dark  hair  give  the  face  a  different  character. 
She  has  a  great  air  of  distinction  which,  with  the  aquiline 
nose  and  classically  rounded  chin,  she  probably  inherits  from 
her  father's  side. 

235 


236  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

But  on  her  sweet  young  face  there  lay  a  shadow  of  gentle 
uncomplaining  melancholy  which  probably  is  to  be  traced  to 
her  compulsory  union  with  Louis  Bonaparte,  for  whom,  they 
say,  she  always  felt  an  invincible  dislike. 

Of  course  there  are  numerous  stories  in  circulation  as  to 
the  reason.  According  to  one,  her  regard  for  her  stepfather, 
the  First  Consul,  amounts  to  positive  idolatry,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  he  is  most  fondly  attached  to  her  and  that 
great  sympathy  exists  between  them,  but  that  the  feeling — on 
either  side — exceeds  the  proper  limits  of  their  relationship  is, 
from  what  Edmee  tells  me,  a  malicious  invention  spread 
abroad  by  a  few  persons  in  high  position  who  ought  to  know 
better. 

Another  and  certainly  more  probable  story  is  that  she 
has  for  years  been  deeply  in  love  with  General  Duroc,  Bona- 
parte's adjutant.  The  handsome  officer  is  said  to  have  re- 
turned the  feeling,  but  whether  he  fancied  it  was  hopeless  to 
aspire  to  the  hand  of  the  First  Consul's  daughter,  or  whether, 
as  Bonaparte's  favourite  officer,  he  looked  still  higher,  suffice 
it  to  say  he  waited  and  waited  till  finally  Bonaparte  gave  Hor- 
tense  to  his  brother  Louis.  What  the  Consul's  reasons  were 
for  this  unequal  union  it  would  be  difficult  to  understand,  for 
he  must  have  known  them  both  well  enough  to  be  aware  of 
their  entire  lack  of  compatibility. 

Louis  Bonaparte  is  said  to  be  clever  and  by  far  the  best 
educated  of  the  brothers  and,  when  he  likes,  both  kind-hearted 
and  of  pleasing  address,  but  the  fatigues  and  hardships  of  his 
military  campaigns  added  to  his  many  debauches  have  ruined 
his  health  and  made  him  of  a  melancholy,  not  to  say  hypo- 
chondriacal,  turn  of  mind,  in  strong  contrast  to  Hortense's 
lively  temperament. 


MADAME  HORTENSE  AND  MADAME  MURAT.     23? 

Her  very  natural  distaste  for  him  led,  in  the  first  weeks 
of  their  marriage,  to  some  highly  conspicuous  passages  be- 
tween them,  and  Hortense  is  even  reported  to  have  fled  from 
her  husband  one  night  and  taken  refuge  with  the  Consul  in 
the  Tuileries,  and  it  was  only  by  using  the  utmost  severity 
that  Bonaparte  finally  induced  her  to  return.  Nevertheless, 
the  relations  between  the  couple  continue  to  be  of  the  worst, 
and  Hortense  has  now  been  living  for  weeks  past  with  her 
mother  in  Malmaison. 

Bonaparte's  youngest  sister,  Maria  Annunciata  Caroline, 
has  been  the  wife  of  General  Murat  for  two  years,  but,  owing 
to  the  unsettled  state  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  had  never  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  Church.  At  Hortense's  very  quiet 
marriage  in  the  chapel  of  the  Palace,  the  Consul  determined 
to  let  his  sister  share  the  priestly  blessing,  and  Cardinal 
Caprara  performed  both  ceremonies  on  the  same  day.  On 
this  occasion  Bonaparte  is  said  to  have  remarked  to  the  Car- 
dinal that  this  was  the  last  private  religious  ceremony  which 
should  be  performed  in  his  family,  he  should  very  soon  wit- 
ness some  splendid  public  ones !  I  wonder  if  he  meant  his 
own  re-marriage  to  Josephine?  It  is  impossible  to  say;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  is  taking  steps  to  restore  the  Church 
to  its  legitimate  position  in  the  State. 

Madame  Murat,  who  is  barely  twenty,  has  the  faultlessly 
regular  features  of  a  classical  statue  and  a  lovely  bright  com- 
plexion, and  is  as  gay  and  lively  as  poor  Hortense  is  the  re- 
verse. Both  ladies  were  still  in  riding  dress  with  redingotes 
of  black  cassimere  opening  over  red  silk  vests  and  carried 
their  large  felt  hats  in  their  hands. 

Their  cavaliers,  having  meanwhile  changed  their  riding 
costumes,  now  entered,  and  you  should  have  seen  the  Prince 


238  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

de  Poix's  droll,  astonished  face  when  he  caught  sight  of  me — 
his  surprise  at  my  presence  here  was  quite  as  great  as  mine 
on  first  seeing  him.  However,  we  only  exchanged  an  amused 
smile  and  kept  our  thoughts  to  ourselves. 

On  presenting  me,  Madame  Josephine  added  the  somewhat 
astonishing  remark,  une  vieille  amie  a  moi.  We  then  repaired  to 
a  large  oval  dining-room,  decorated  and  furnished  in  the  very 
latest  style,  where  the  dejeuner  was  served.  Behind  each  chair 
stood  a  lacquey  in  magnificent  green  and  gold  livery.  Madame 
Josephine  was  pleased  to  appoint  me  a  seat  at  her  left  hand; 
General  Murat  sat  on  her  right  and  Madame  Hortense  beside 
him.  Next  to  me  sat  Madame  Murat,  and  the  Prince  de  Poix 
was  at  Hortense's  other  side.  Thus  I  had  General  Murat  for 
my  vis-a-vis  and  had  a  good  opportunity  for  observing  this 
famous  warrior.  He  is  about  thirty-five,  and  deserves  the 
popular  epithet  of  "  le  beau  Murat11  in  so  far  as  regular 
features,  a  red  and  white  complexion,  flashing  black  eyes,  and 
bushy  whiskers  entitle  a  man  to  be  so  described.  But  do  you 
know  whom  he  reminded  me  of  ?  The  agent  for  the  wine-mer- 
chant in  Mainz  who  came  once  a  year  to  Kalbe  and  always 
amused  us  so  much  with  his  would-be  elegant  manners.  I 
took  a  dislike  to  Murat  from  the  first  moment.  He  cannot 
conceal  his  low  origin,  and  was  formerly  so  frenzied  a  Repub- 
lican that  he  altered  his  name  to  that  of  Marat,  his  more  than 
questionable  ideal,  and  came  to  the  fore  and  was  made  a  Gen- 
eral during  the  Terror.  With  his  sharp  eye  for  the  main 
chance,  he  soon  attached  himself  to  Bonaparte's  rising  for- 
tunes, and  has  undoubtedly  served  him  well  and  given  fre- 
quent proof  of  courage  and  resourcefulness.  He  has  accom- 
panied Bonaparte  on  all  his  campaigns,  and  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  dispersing  the  Council  of  the  Five  Hundred.  In 


DESCRIPTION  OF  MURAT.  239 

short,  he  is  one  of  the  most  faithful  followers  of  His  great 
brother-in-law,  and  may  be  said  to  have  helped  him  to  his 
present  position. 

Not  that  he  has  omitted  to  help  himself  at  the  same  time. 
Edmee  says  that  as  Governor  of  Milan  he  amassed  a  fortune 
of  many  millions  of  francs.  He  and  his  lovely  wife  inhabit  a 
magnificent  palace  and  live  in  princely  style.  No  doubt  he  has 
a  great  future  before  him,  but  he  strikes  me  as  an  irretrievable 
egoist,  and  in  his  shifty  eyes,  which  never  look  you  straight 
in  the  face,  duplicity  is  written  in  plain  characters. 

His  costume  was  almost  grotesque  in  its  extravagance,  and 
I  remembered  how  the  Prince  de  Poix  had  alluded  to  him  one 
evening  "  tout  ce  qu'il  y-a  du  plus  Franconi."  And  that  is  just 
what  he  looked  like — a  circus-rider.  He  wore  a  short,  black, 
heavily  braided  Polish  jacket,  red  trousers,  and  high  boots  of 
yellow  leather,  while  his  jet-black  hair  hung  in  ringlets  over  a 
white  embroidered  collar. 

Then  you  should  have  seen  his  self-satisfied  airs  and  the 
boastful  manner  in  which  he  spoke  of  his  military  prowess  till, 
had  I  not  been  incontestably  assured  of  his  great  merit  as  a 
soldier,  I  should  certainly  have  taken  him  for  an  unmitigated 
fanfaron.  Nor  does  the  fair  Madame  Caroline  seem  wholly 
blind  to  her  husband's  failings,  for  I  noticed  that  while  he  told 
his  self-glorifying  stories  she  shrugged  her  classical  shoulders 
disdainfully  and  a  supercilious  smile  played  round  her  beauti- 
ful lips. 

What  with  the  Prince  de  Poix's  wicked  face  opposite  and 
the  glances  he  threw  at  me  from  time  to  time,  I  could  scarcely 
restrain  my  laughter,  and  admired  Josephine  greatly  for  the 
tactful  patience  she  exercised  towards  her  bombastic  brother- 
in-law. 


240  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Hortense  took  little  or  no  part  in  the  conversation  and  sat 
for  the  most  part  with  dreaming  eyes  fixed  on  the  distance. 
Was  she  thinking  of  the  handsome  Duroc,  I  wondered? 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  talk  about  the  illness  of  General 
Leclerc,  the  husband  of  Bonaparte's  eldest  sister  Pauline.  He 
had  been  sent  out,  a  little  while  ago,  with  an  expedition  to  St. 
Domingo,  where  he  seems  to  have  concerned  himself  more 
with  his  own  private  advantages  than  those  of  the  State.  Gen- 
eral Murat  remarked  that  he  expected  his  brother-in-law  to 
return  as  the  richest  man  in  Europe;  Branchi,  the  great  real 
estate  agent,  had  been  with  him  (Murat)  only  yesterday  and 
said  that  General  Leclerc  had  commissioned  him  to  buy 
property  in  the  Dauphinee  to  the  extent  of  six  million  francs. 
"  If  he  dies  now,"  he  added  with  a  cynical  laugh,  "  our  dear 
Pauline  can  buy  herself  an  entire  Princedom  here  in  France; 
she  certainly  will  have  money  enough  and  to  spare." 

You  have  no  idea  of  the  concentrated  spite  of  his  tone  as 
he  said  this;  one  could  see  that  he  was  simply  devoured  with 
envy  of  his  brother-in-law's  good  luck! 

The  conversation  then  turned  on  the  Consul's  journey  to 
Lyons,  and  various  interesting  remarks  were  made  on  the 
Constitution  he  had  given  his  new  Republic.  Murat  then  pro- 
ceeded to  give  the  details  of  Bonaparte's  election,  by  which  he 
had  become  President  over  two  Republics. — "  I  wonder,"  he 
added  with  a  sarcastic  smile,"  how  long  he  will  remain  so?  " 

This,  at  last,  seemed  too  much  for  Madame  Josephine,  and 
with  a  glance  of  disapproval  at  the  General,  she  put  an  end  to 
his  indiscretions  by  rising  from  the  table. 

On  our  return  to  the  salon  we  found  my  Edmee.  She  was 
most  cordially  received  by  Madame  and  the  other  ladies,  and  I 


NAPOLEON'S  FATALISM.  241 

seized  the  first  opportunity  to  give  her  a  hurried  outline  of  the 
promises  made  me  by  Josephine,  which  pleased  her  greatly. 

The  afternoon  being  bright  and  sunny,  Madame  proposed 
that  we  should  take  a  little  walk  through  the  grounds,  where- 
upon Edmee,  Madame  Hamelin,  and  I  accompanied  her,  while 
the  others  went  off  to  their  "  jeu  de  barres." 

The  paths  in  the  beautiful  park  are  kept  as  smooth  and 
clean  as  a  parquet  floor,  so  I  was  relieved  of  all  anxiety  as  to 
my  fine  train.  We  had  strolled  about  the  grounds  for  some 
time,  Madame  Josephine  pointing  out  the  various  improve- 
ments she  had  made,  and  at  last  entered  the  broad  avenue  that 
leads  to  the  plain  of  Ruel.  Josephine  was  just  telling  me  how 
much  she  regretted  having  to  leave  Malmaison,  when  she  sud- 
denly stopped  and  held  up  a  silencing  hand. 

I  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  Profound  silence  reigned 
around  us,  only  broken  by  the  solemn  strokes  of  the  church 
bell  in  Ruel  ringing  for  afternoon  Mass. 

"  Do  you  hear  those  bells?  "  she  whispered  softly,  and  the 
whole  expression  of  her  face  seemed  to  change,  to  become  al- 
most devotional.  I  could  not  understand  why  the  tones  of 
these  simple  village  bells  should  make  such  an  impression  on 
her,  especially  as  she  had  no  great  reputation  for  piety.  "Do 
you  hear  them?"  she  repeated.  "Those  are  Bonaparte's 
bells!" 

"The  Consul's  bells?"  I  asked  in  surprise,  thinking  per- 
haps he  had  presented  them  to  the  church. 

"  Yes — you  know  he  is  so  fond  of  the  sound  of  bells,  and 
I  have  stood  here  many  times  with  him  listening  to  them,"  she 
explained  fondly.  "They  affect  him  so  strangely,"  she  went  on, 
"  that  I  can  hardly  understand  it — sometimes  even  to  tears — 
and  he  does  not  like  me  to  break  the  spell  by  speaking.  He  is 


242  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

quite  vexed  that  I  cannot  feel  the  same  about  it  as  he.  I  fancy 
the  bells  remind  him  of  his  youthful  days  at  Brienne,  where  he 
was  so  happy.  Altogether,  his  spiritual  side  is  a  most  peculiar 
one;  he  believes  firmly  in  a  supernatural  world  all  about  us,  ex- 
ercising its  influence  upon  every  human  life." 

The  bells  died  away  and  we  proceeded  on  our  walk,  but  I 
was  much  struck  by  her  words.  Who  would  ever  have  credited 
this  cold  and  impassionate  man  with  such  imaginative  power 
and  feeling? 

We  then  returned  to  the  Chateau,  and  while  waiting  in  the 
drawing-room  till  it  was  time  for  the  promised  theatricals 
Lucian  Bonaparte  and  his  wife  arrived.  As  you  may  imagine, 
I  was  immensely  interested  to  meet  this  man,  who  is  said  to 
be  the  most  crafty  and  astute  of  all  Bonaparte's  brothers.  It 
was  he,  they  tell  me,  who  gave  Napoleon  the  hint  as  to  the 
most  opportune  moment  at  which  to  return  from  Egypt;  he 
also  played  an  important  part  in  the  coup  d'etat  that  followed. 

I  must  confess,  however,  that  I  was  greatly  disappointed 
in  his  appearance.  He  bears  a  certain  family  likeness,  o! 
course,  to  the  First  Consul — it  is  the  same  antique  Roman 
type — but  with  his  short,  squat  figure  and  general  air  of  living 
too  well,  he  looks  like  a  well-to-do  corn  dealer  or  small  shop- 
keeper, and  his  common-looking,  much-bejewelled  wife  forms 
a  worthy  pendant  to  him.  He  too  is  said  to  have  amassed  an 
enormous  fortune,  for  the  most  part  while  he  was  ambassador 
in  Madrid.  It  cannot  be  an  easy  task  for  Madame  Josephine 
— who  certainly  looked  like  a  princess  beside  this  sister-in-law 
— to  associate  comfortably  with  these  queer  relations  of  her 
husband's,  but  so  far  as  I  could  see  she  managed  them  all  with 
the  most  perfect  tact  and  seems  to  be  on  an  excellent  footing 
with  them  all. 


END  OF  THE  VISIT  TO  MALMAISON,  243 

The  little  comedy,  in  which  Hortense  and  Eugene  Beau- 
harnais  took  the  chief  parts,  could  not  have  been  better  acted 
by  the  most  skilled  professionals  and  fully  deserved  the  hearty 
applause  it  got.  It  was  immediately  followed  by  dinner,  a 
somewhat  noisy  meal,  at  which  Monsieur  Lucian  drank  a  great 
deal  of  wine,  but  also  told  us  some  very  interesting  stories  of 
his  stay  in  Madrid. 

We  took  our  leave  at  about  9  o'clock,  Madame  Josephine 
repeating  her  assurances  to  help  in  my  affairs  directly  Bona- 
parte returned. 

Thus  ended  my  visit  to  Malmaison.  The  small  events  of 
the  last  few  days  I  must  defer  till  my  next  letter;  this  one  has 
spun  itself  out  to  an  unconscionable  length,  but  I  knew  the 
subject  would  interest  you  particularly.  My  fondest  love  to 
you  and  yours. 

CECILE. 

The  scene  referred  to  by  the  Baroness,  in  which  the  un- 
happy Hortense  fled,  on  the  night  of  her  marriage,  to  the 
Tuileries,  as  well  as  other  stories  maliciously  spread  abroad 
about  her,  may  probably  have  given  rise  to  the  report  that 
Hortense's  son,  Louis  Napoleon,  afterwards  Emperor,  was  the 
son  of  the  great  Napoleon.  There  is  absolutely  nothing  to 
justify  this  scandal,  which  is  also  emphatically  refuted  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  valet  Constant. 

Bonaparte's  adjutant  Duroc  had  every  opportunity  of  bit- 
terly regretting  not  having  secured  Hortense  Beauharnais' 
hand  while  there  was  yet  time.  Three  years  afterwards,  when 
Hortense  had  long  been  Queen  of  Holland,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  wealthy  Spanish  banker,  a  Signora  Hervas 


244  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

d'Almenara,  a  capricious,  scatter-brained  little  person,  who 
led  him  a  dreadful  life. 

On  the  death  of  General  Leclerc  Pauline  Bonaparte  mar- 
ried Prince  Borghese,  and  taking  her  fabulous  wealth  to  Italy 
led  a  life  of  the  most  extravagant  luxury.  Her  classical  beauty 
has  been  preserved  to  us  in  a  statue  by  Canova,  in  which  she 
is  represented  as  Tizian's  Venus  Victrix  reclining  on  a  couch. 
The  original  is  in  the  Villa  Borghese  in  Rome,  and  a  very  good 
copy  by  Hesemann  in  the  Museum  in  Hanover. 

The  Baroness's  judgment  of  Murat  is  amply  borne  out  by 
later  history.  Napoleon  made  him  King  of  Naples,  but  he  was 
the  first  to  desert  the  Emperor  when  his  fortunes  waned  and 
side  with  Napoleon's  enemies  in  the  hope  of  retaining  his 
crown.  His  treachery  met  with  its  due  reward,  for  being  taken 
prisoner  in  the  attempt  to  regain  his  lost  kingdom,  he  was 
called  before  a  Court  Martial  and  shot. 

A  second  glaring  instance  of  ingratitude  to  Napoleon  was 
furnished  by  General  Bernadotte  whom,  partly  for  his  old  love, 
Desiree  Clary's  sake,  he  had  heaped  with  benefits.  He  too  be- 
trayed and  deserted  his  Emperor's  cause,  but,  more  fortunate 
than  "  le  beau  Murat,"  managed  to  retain  his  throne. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 
THIRTEENTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  i2th  Ventose  XL 

My  Annaliebe,  I  am  really  quite  ashamed  to  think  that  my 
last  two  letters  were  full  of  nothing  but  my  visit  to  Malmaison; 
but,  in  truth,  one  of  my  reasons  for  going  so  much  into  detail 
was  that  I  was  thinking  of  the  circle  of  dear  good  friends  to 
whom  you  tell  me  you  read  my  epistles  aloud. 

I  can  see  them  all  so  plainly — the  good  Pastor  puffing  at 
his  long  pipe  and  listening  so  earnestly  to  your  every  word; 
Aunt  Kroecher  having  a  war  of  words  with  Uncle  Briest  over 
this  or  the  other  personage  in  my  letter  or  some  opinion 
brought  forward  by  me.  I  can  see  Uncle  Briest's  disapproving 
shake  of  the  head  at  any  word  of  praise  from  me  for  the  per- 
son or  the  actions  of  the  First  Consul,  whom,  you  remember, 
he  always  called  the  "  lawless  son  of  the  Revolution,"  and  then 
the  fierce  clash  of  Aunt  Kroecher's  knitting  needles  as  she 
turns  upon  her  ancient  foe  with  "  But,  Monsieur  Briest,  that 
last  remark  of  yours  was  hardly  tenable,  I  think."  How  often 
we  have  laughed  to  see  her  throw  down  the  gauntlet  and  chal- 
lenge Uncle  to  mortal  combat  over  an  opinion  in  which,  not 
five  minutes  before,  she  had  agreed  with  him  entirely.  What 
an  endless  pity  that,  when  Aunt  Kroecher  became  a  widow, 
these  two  did  xiot  marry!  They  could  neither  of  them  ever 

245 


246  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

have  complained  of  dulness,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
they  have  been  the  least  unhappy,  for,  at  the  bottom  of  their 
hearts,  these  two  delightful  people  are  very  fond  of  each  other. 
Perhaps  then  the  old  name  would  not  have  come  to  end  with 
Uncle — there  would  have  been  a  son  to  carry  it  on. — Imagine, 
my  dear,  if  you  can,  the  child  of  these  two  opposite  natures! 
But  for  Heaven's  sake  don't  read  this  passage  aloud — I  should 
never  get  over  the  outcry  it  would  cause. — I  will  put  a  mark 
against  it  so  that  you  may  be  warned  in  time. 

I  would  give  anything  to  be  able  to  see  you  all,  to  arrive 
suddenly  in  your  midst  instead  of  my  letter.  When,  I  wonder, 
shall  I  see  you  again,  my  dearest? — Not  for  some  time  yet,  I 
fear;  I  must  first  await  the  result  of  my  audience  with  the  Con- 
sul. He  is  still  away  and  seems  to  be  occupying  himself  in 
Lyons  with  his  Italian  subjects,  or  rather  their  representatives, 
longer  than  Madame  Josephine  expected.  And  now  they  say 
he  is  going  on  to  Toul  from  Lyons,  and  when  he  does  return 
there  will  be  first  the  re-establishment  of  the  Church  and  then 
the  many  fetes  in  connection  with  the  confirmation  of  the  Con- 
cordat, so  that  who  knows  when  the  great  man  will  find  a 
moment  to  spare  for  poor  little  me  and  my  private  petition? 

Edmee  takes  care  that  time  should  not  hang  heavy  on  my 
hands,  and  arranges  so  many  entertainments  for  me  that  I 
often  long  for  the  peace  and  quiet  I  used  to  enjoy  with  you. 
What  will  you  say  to  your  grave  and  retiring  Cecile  having 
been  to  a  ball  the  other  night? — as  an  onlooker  only,  of  course. 
Edmee  had  not  breathed  a  word  of  it  and  I  had  not  the  least 
idea  of  what  was  coming  after  the  charming  little  souper  at 
Madame  de  Fontenay's,  where  the  amusing  Prince  de  Poix 
was  once  more  my  neighbour,  when  the  couples  suddenly  ar- 
ranged themselves  for  the  dance. 


TALMA  AS  ORESTES. 

What  a  long,  long  time  it  is  since  I  saw  gay  young  couples 
such  as  these  footing  it  so  merrily!  Besides,  so  much  of  it 
was  quite  new  to  me,  so  that  I  watched  with  additional  interest. 

The  Polonaise,  Franchise,  and  Minuet  were  danced,  and 
an  English  country  dance  and  Scotch  reel  as  well,  but  how  the 
Landler  or  Swabian  country  dance,  which  even  the  least 
prudish  of  moralists  could  not  but  decry  as  utterly  indecent, 
has  found  its  way  into  this  circle  I  fail  to  understand.  Your 
German  valse,  my  dear,  does  not  make  much  headway  here, 
the  mamas  taking  exception  at  the  attitude.  So  a  compromise 
has  been  made  by  giving  two  ladies  to  each  gentleman  or  two 
gentlemen  to  the  lady,  thus  preventing  the  dangerous  tete-a- 
tete  and  the  unseemly  arm  about  the  waist!  And  mama  is  re- 
assured. It  is  a  pity  that  the  all-prevailing  Grecomania  which 
has  given  us  so  many  artistic  improvements  has  not  brought 
the  pantomime  dances,  which  are  sometimes  produced  here 
on  the  stage,  into  society  as  well.  For  instance,  in  the  Theatre 
Royal — as  it  is  still  called — the  other  evening  we  saw 
"Ariadne  and  Bacchus,"  a  pantomime  after  Xenophon,  in 
which  the  most  exquisite  dances  occurred. 

As  we  are  on  the  subject  of  dancing  I  will  add  a  word  about 
the  dresses.  They  are  airier  and  more  transparent  than  ever, 
and  the  long  train  shows  no  sign  of  diminished  popularity,  in 
spite  of  the  mishaps  that  constantly  occur  at  balls  when  they 
wind  themselves  in  Laocoon  folds  about  the  legs  of  the  gentle- 
men, with  results  which  are  better  imagined  than  described. 

The  evening  before  last  we  saw  the  great  Talma — his  first 
appearance  since  his  return  from  Italy — as  Orestes  in  "  Iphi- 
genia  in  Tauris."  The  theatre  was  filled  to  the  very  last 
place,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  Edmee  had  taken  our  tickets  in 
good  time.  I  was  of  course  looking  forward  with  intense  in- 


248  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

terest  to  seeing  this  actor  of  whom  I  had  heard  so  much,  and 
was  distinctly  disappointed  when  he  first  came  on  the  stage, 
for  though  his  features  are  regular  and  of  the  antique  Roman 
type,  he  is  small  and  insignificant  and  his  movements,  in  the 
beginning,  very  languid  and  uninteresting,  doubtless  as  a  re- 
sult of  his  recent  illness.  However,  as  the  play  went  on,  he 
warmed  to  the  part  and  soon  exhibited  a  fire  and  passion  which 
thrilled  his  audience  to  the  marrow;  in  fact,  he  was  so  carried 
away  by  his  emotional  excitement  that  one  almost  feared  for 
his  health.  Yet,  in  spite  of  his  passion,  his  movements  were  so 
dignified  and  withal  so  entirely  natural  that  involuntarily  one 
seemed  transported  to  the  classical  days  of  which  the  drama 
treated.  It  seemed  incredible,  watching  his  youthful  fire  and 
the  elasticity  of  his  movements,  that  the  actor  should  be  nearly 
sixty  years  old. 

Edmee  tells  me  that  the  Consul  thinks  very  highly  of  him 
and  is  almost  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  him;  also  that  Talma 
often  gives  him  hints  for  his  deportment  in  public. 

Hearing  Bonaparte  spoken  of  on  every  occasion  and 
wherever  I  go,  it  seems  quite  strange  that  I  should  have  been 
here  four  months  and  yet  never  seen  him  properly,— for  both 
in  the  theatre  and  at  the  parade  he  was  too  far  away  to  afford 
me  anything  but  an  indistinct  impression.  You  know,  Anna- 
liebe,  that  I  am  not  precisely  shy  and  that  the  presence  of  great 
people  does  not  alarm  me,  but  I  must  frankly  confess  that  with 
Bonaparte's  reputation  for  always  acting  as  one  least  expects, 
I  am  decidedly  nervous  at  the  prospect  of  this  audience. — 
Well,  after  all,  he  is  not  superhuman,  and  if  he  refuses  my  peti- 
tion, he  refuses,  and  there  is  an  end  of  it.  I  shall  have  done 
all  that  lay  in  my  power,  and  for  my  personal  happiness 
Heaven  knows  I  do  not  require  more  than  I  already  possess. 


EXTRAVAGANT  LUXURY  IN  DRESS.  249 

After  the  theatre,  in  order  to  calm  our  excited  nerves  and 
bring  ourselves  back  to  the  level  of  every-day  life,  we  drove 
to  Frascati's,  a  place  of  which  Monsieur  de  TAigle  had  given 
me  such  a  glowing  account  that  I  begged  Edmee  to  take  me 
some  time.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  the  Rochefoucauld's  former 
magnificent  palace  and  is  surrounded  by  a  great  garden  illu- 
minated by  thousands  of  coloured  lamps.  We  were  lucky 
enough  to  chance  upon  Monsieur  de  1'Aigle  as  soon  as  we  ar- 
rived, and  he  kindly  did  the  honours.  The  ground-floor  of 
the  house,  which  has  been  built  by  a  private  individual,  con- 
sists of  a  suite  of  ten  or  fifteen  large  rooms,  all  brilliantly 
lighted  and  decorated  with  garlands  of  flowers.  Ice  and  sorbet 
only  are  sold  here  and  are  of  the  very  best  quality,  of  which 
we  were  able  to  judge  for  ourselves  when  our  gallant  cavalier 
took  us  out  into  the  garden  and  had  it  brought  to  us  there. 
The  company  becoming  somewhat  noisy  as  the  night  wore  on, 
we  very  soon  left  and  returned  home. 

In  my  day  it  would  have  been  out  of  the  question  for  ladies 
to  be  seen  at  a  public  resort  of  this  kind,  but,  as  I  said  before, 
great  changes  have  occurred  here  which  may,  no  doubt,  be 
ascribed  to  the  enormous  influx  of  strangers,  particularly  of 
the  English,  into  Paris. 

You  ask  me  with  regard  to  the  great  luxury  displayed  here 
by  the  elegantes  in  their  dress,  if  they  are  all  so  rich  as  to  be 
able  to  pay  for  it.  Edmee  tells  me  that  there  certainly  is  a 
great  increase  of  wealth,  but  the  most  extravagantly  lux- 
urious people  are  those  who  have  succeeded  in  amassing  for- 
tunes as  purveyors  to  the  Army  during  the  wars.  Many,  how- 
ever, had  managed  to  enrich  themselves  by  the  Revolution, 
and  among  these,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  Edmee  mentioned  several 
names  belonging  to  the  noblesse,  who,  while  singing  the 


LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

praises  of  Liberty,  had  taken  every  opportunity  of  increasing 
their  fortunes  at  the  expense  of  others  more  quixotically 
honest.  Let  me  horrify  you  by  giving  you  a  list  of  Madame 
Tallien's  yearly  expenditure  set  down  the  other  day  by  some 
ladies  who  know  her  intimately.  I  call  it  a  deplorable  evidence 
of  the  length  fashionable  folly  will  go: 

365  head-dresses,  capotes,  and  hats 5,000  frs. 

2  Cachemire  shawls 600  " 

365  pr.  shoes 600  " 

250  pr.  silk  stockings 3,000  " 

400  robes 20,000  " 

12  chemises 300  " 

Red  and  white  face  paint 150  " 

2  veils 2,400  " 

Corsets,  wigs,  reticules,  umbrellas,  fans,  etc.  3,000  " 

Essences,  perfumes,  elixirs 800  " 

Bijoux  and  other  ornaments S,ooo  " 

Furniture  —  Greek,     Roman,     Byzantine, 

Persian,  Egyptian,  Gothic 30,000  " 

6  horses  (2  for  riding) 10,000  " 

Dancing  master 3,000  " 

One  bed 15,000  " 

Theatres,  concerts,  etc 10,000  " 

Charity 100  " 


108,950  frs. 

"  O  vanitas  vanitatum  vanitas!  "    Eh,  Dr.  Vultejus?    How 
can  one  woman  possibly  use  all  these  things! 

Ever,  my  dearest  heart,  your  faithful 

C 

This  time,  for  once,  the  Baroness  was  wrong  in  her  esti- 
mate of  character.    Talma  was  no  more  faithful  to  his  Imperial 


TALMA'S  FAITHLESSNESS.  2$  I 

friend  and  patron  than  the  others  whom  Napoleon  benefited. 
When  Napoleon  was  banished  to  Elba  and  Talma  appeared 
before  the  new  King  Louis  XVIII.  in  the  Tuileries,  he  said 
with  an  air  of  servile  flattery :  "  I  greatly  prefer  a  kind  word 
from  your  Majesty  to  a  pension  from  a  Bonaparte!" 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 
FOURTEENTH   LETTER. 

PAWS,  22d  Ventose  XL 

My  own  dear  Annaliebe: 

The  great  event  is  over!  But  before  I  give  you  any  details 
let  me  at  once  relieve  your  mind  by  telling  you  that  I  have 
come  off  victorious — Mont-Courtot  and  Retrazet  are  mine 
once  more,  are  settled  on  me  personally  by  the  First  Consul's 
express  command. 

And  now  let  me  proceed  to  give  you  a  full  account  of  the 
extraordinary  incidents  that  happened  to  me  in  the  Tuileries 
yesterday — so  extraordinary,  that  when  I  compare  my  position 
before  the  audience  with  that  of  to-day,  I  can  scarcely  believe 
it  is  not  all  a  dream. 

Last  Friday  came  the  order  to  present  myself  before  the 
First  Consul  at  midday  yesterday  in  the  Tuileries.  Of  course 
I  found  that  many  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  Royal  palace 
since  I  was  last  there.  The  centre  "  Pavilion,"  built  by  Kath- 
erine  de  Medici  and  Henri  IV.,  which  connects  the  two 
wings  of  the  palace,  is  now  used  as  the  Salle  des  Marechals. 
The  left  wing  contains  the  private  apartments  of  the  First  Con- 
sul and  Madame  Josephine  when  they  happen  to  be  in  resi- 
dence here,  and  the  right  wing  all  the  official  rooms,  the 
Council  Chamber,  the  Chapel,  the  Theatre. 

252 


THE  AUDIENCE  WITH  NAPOLEON.  253 

The  Adjutants,  the  Prefet  du  Palais,  and  the  Com- 
mandants of  the  Consular  Guard  are  lodged  in  the  former 
"  Pavilion  des  enfants  de  France/'  looking  on  to  the  Rue  de 
Rivoli. 

I  had  to  pass  through  a  suite  of  rooms,  the  doors  of  each 
of  which  were  opened  for  me  by  two  lacqueys  in  green-and- 
gold-embroidered  coats  and  black  velvet  knee-breeches.  Ar- 
rived at  the  last  salon,  I  was  received  by  the  newly  appointed 
Chamberlain  Monsieur  de  Remusat,  who  conducted  me  to  the 
ante-chamber  in  which  a  number  of  persons  of  all  conditions 
were  already  assembled.  It  was  quite  a  pleasure  to  me  when 
among  that  crowd  of  strange  faces  my  eyes  suddenly  lighted 
on  Talleyrand  leaning  negligently  in  one  of  the  deep  windows. 
A  flash  of  recognition  passed  over  his  sallow  face  at  sight  of 
me,  and  he  at  once  advanced  towards  me  and  whispered,  "  Je 
vous  felicite"  I  looked  at  him  blankly.  "  Your  petition  will 
be  granted,"  he  explained  in  the  same  low  tone,  "  for  the  Con- 
sul never  receives  any  one  whose  petition  he  intends  to  refuse." 

You  may  imagine  my  joy  at  this  news !  It  inspired  me  with 
a  certain  confidence,  and  I  felt  myself  braced  for  the  coming 
ordeal. 

On  the  stroke  of  12,  Monsieur  de  Remusat  scratched  on 
the  door  leading  to  the  Consul's  private  cabinet  and  then  en- 
tered. Shortly  afterwards  the  door  opened  again  and  the 
Chamberlain  called  my  name  out.  The  fateful  moment  had 
arrived;  I  crossed  the  threshold  and  the  doors  swung  to  be- 
hind me. 

The  Consul  was  standing  opposite  the  door  in  front  of  a 
great  marble  fireplace  in  which  a  fire  burned  brightly.  Rising 
from  my  deep  curtsey,  to  which  he  responded  with  a  curt  nod, 
I  stood  up  straight  and  looked  at  him.  Yes — it  was  the 


254  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Roman  Imperator-head  I  knew  so  well  from  the  pictures  and 
coins,  with  strands  of  dark  hair  falling  over  the  brow.  The 
shape  of  the  head  alone,  with  its  massive  outline  and  firm 
square  jaw,  sufficed  to  warn  one  that  here  was  no  average 
man,  and  recalled  the  sculptured  heroes  of  the  classic  age. 

He  wore  the  sumptuous  consular  uniform  which,  as  the 
Prince  de  Poix  told  us  the  other  day,  he  had  devised  on  the 
pattern  of  one  he  saw  belonging  to  his  brother  Joseph  at  Mar- 
fontaine.  It  consisted  of  a  scarlet  coat  without  revers  and  with 
a  wide  embroidery  of  golden  leaves  up  each  seam,  unusually 
small  gold  epaulettes,  a  4ong  waistcoat  of  white  cachemire, 
knee-breeches  of  the  same  material,  white  silk  stockings  and 
buckle  shoes.  A  sword  with  a  gold  hilt  and  gold  and  tortoise- 
shell  scabbard  hung  at  his  side,  and  on  his  broad  breast  glit- 
tered the  Star  and  the  other  orders  of  the  Legion  of  Honour 
instituted  by  him  only  a  few  weeks  before.  In  his  right  hand 
he  held  a  small  three-cornered  gold-laced  hat,  with  which  he 
gesticulated  violently  at  times  during  the  ensuing  conversa- 
tion, and  in  his  left  a  paper,  apparently  containing  notes  of  the 
person  interviewed,  as  he  consulted  it  from  time  to  time. 

Of  course,  as  you  may  suppose,  I  did  not  see  all  this  in  the 
first  moment,  but  I  know  you  will  like  to  have  a  full  descrip- 
tion of  the  omnipotent  man  before  whom  your  poor  Cecile  now 
stood  quite  alone. 

Letting  his  large  clear  eyes  rest  on  me  for  a  moment  with 
a  piercing  gaze,  he  asked  brusquely:  "Eh  bien,  what  have 
you  come  about?  " 

I  knew  that  the  Consul  was  not  inclined  to  be  very  polite 
to  ladies  who  expressed  themselves  at  any  length,  and  had 
heard  besides  that  he  sometimes  put  the  most  grossly  imperti- 
nent questions,  so  that,  despite  the  granting  of  their  petition, 


CECILE'S  RECOGNITION  OF  BONAPARTF  2$ 5 

they  often  left  the  Consul's  room  in  high  and  justifiable 
dudgeon.  Remembering  Talleyrand's  advice  I  therefore 
gathered  up  all  my  courage  and  simply  replied :  "  The  restitu- 
tion of  my  family  property." 

The  great  man  seemed  decidedly  taken  aback  by  this 
laconic  answer.  He  threw  up  his  head  with  a  quite  peculiar 
movement,  turning  it  a  little  aside,  so  that  I  saw  his  face  al- 
most in  profile.  He  frowned  and  stuck  out  his  underlip. 

"  Of  a  truth,  Madame,  I  cannot  complain  that  you  are  too 
prolix — but,"  and  he  raised  his  voice  to  an  angry  pitch,  "  why 
are  you  staring  at  me  so  strangely?  I  would  have  you  remem- 
ber, Madame,  that  I  am  the  head  of  the  State,  and,  as  such,  de- 
mand to  be  treated  with  proper  respect." 

But  his  tone  of  angry  annoyance  had  no  terrors  for  me 
now.  A  strange  feeling  of  security  had  come  over  me,  and  I 
felt  no  trace  of  alarm  at  the  fierce  frown  and  Imperator-glance 
(as  Edmee  calls  it)  of  the  man  who  stood  so  menacingly  before 
me.  For,  vois-tu  Annaliebe,  no  sooner  did  he  give  that  im- 
perious jerk  of  the  head  than  a  curious  change  came  over  me. 
— Even  at  his  first  few  words,  the  sound  of  his  voice  and  the 
peculiar  accent  carried  me  back  to  some  long  forgotten  time, 
calling  up  dimly  before  me  a  picture  I  had  not  thought  of  for 
years  and  years.  I  groped  in  my  memory — where  had  I  seen 
that  cold  stern  face,  those  clear-cut  marble  features  before? 
Then,  as  he  threw  up  his  head  and  frowned  and  stuck  out  his 
underlip,  the  scales  seemed  to  fall  from  my  eyes,  the  veil  woven 
by  the  busy  years  was  rent  asunder  and  I  suddenly  knew  where 
and  when  this  man  had  played  a  part  in  my  former  life. 

I  came  a  little  closer  to  the  All-Powerful  Consul,  who  was 
kicking  his  foot  impatiently  against  the  fender  awaiting  some 
reply  from  me,  and  touching  his  arm  I  said  with  a  smile, 


256          LETTERS  FROM  THE.  BARONESS. 

"  Monsieur  le  Consul,  will  you  permit  me  to  tell  you  a  little 
story?" 

Oh,  you  should  have  seen  his  face,  dearest!  I  am  sure  he 
thought  I  must  be  quite  mad  for  daring  to  lay  my  hand  on  his 
arm  and  also  because  his  harsh  manner  only  called  forth  a 
smile  from  me. 

"Out  with  it,  then!"  he  thundered,  stepping  back  from 
me,  "  but  waste  as  few  words  as  possible  over  it,  if  you  please." 
And  once  more  he  fixed  me  with  a  searching  look,  obviously 
uncertain  if  I  were  in  my  right  mind. 

So  I  began  in  a  low  voice  (I  never  told  you  this  story, 
dearest  Annaliebe): 

"  It  was  an  evening  in  July  in  the  year  1783  and  I  was  on 
a  visit  to  Mademoiselle  Laure  Permon,  the  daughter  of  the 
Finance  Minister  Charles  Permon  and  the  Princess  Com- 
meene  of  Corsica,  who  had  a  beautiful  villa  near  Brienne  in 
the  Champagne.  I  had  wandered  away  by  myself  into  the 
fields  to  pluck  flowers  and  was  so  absorbed  in  my  occupation 
that  I  never  noticed  a  large  herd  of  cattle  grazing  close  by.  I 
was  nearly  seventeen,  but  a  severe  illness  in  my  childhood  had 
left  me  small  and  weakly  for  my  age — " 

"  If  you  intend  giving  me  an  account  of  your  life's  history, 
Madame,"  the  Consul  broke  in  roughly,  "  I  may  as  well  say 
at  once  that  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  listen  to  it." 

"  Pardon  me,  Monsieur  le  Consul,"  I  returned,  "  I  am 
coming  now  to  the  point  of  my  story.  I  had  gathered  a  large 
nosegay,"  I  went  on,  "  when  I  suddenly  heard  an  infuriated 
bellow  behind  me,  and  turning  round,  saw  to  my  horror  that 
an  enormous  black  bull,  irritated  perhaps  by  my  red  parasol, 
was  bearing  down  upon  me  with  blazing  eyes  and  lowered 
horns. 


BONAPARTE  AS  A  BOY  HERO.  257 

"  I  gave  one  piercing  shriek  of  terror,  dropped  my  flowers 
and  fled,  as  fast  as  my  feet  would  carry  me,  towards  the  high 
road.  But  the  bull  rushed  after  me;  I  could  hear  his  snorting 
breath.  '  Help!  Help! '  I  screamed  as  loud  as  I  was  able.  A 
voice  answered,  and  the  next  moment  a  pale-faced  boy  in  the 
uniform  of  the  Brienne  cadets  came  running  towards  me.  He 
waved  his  sword  and  rushed  at  the  bull  from  the  side,  trying 
to  divert  its  attention  to  himself.  But  I  entirely  frustrated  the 
boy's  plan  by  flying  to  him  for  protection.  He  called  out 
something  to  me,  but  I  was  too  frightened  to  understand,  and, 
in  any  case,  it  was  too  late  now.  The  bull  reached  me,  felled 
me  to  the  ground,  and  I  lost  consciousness.  When  I  opened 
my  eyes  my  preserver  was  supporting  me  with  his  arm,  while 
with  the  other  hand  he  wiped  away  the  blood  that  was 
trickling  from  a  wound  in  his  cheek.  But  the  bull  was  stag- 
gering blindly  about  the  field,  the  courageous  boy  having  man- 
aged at  the  last  moment  to  pierce  the  brute's  eye  with  his 
sword. 

"  I  began  to  falter  out  some  words  of  heartfelt  thanks  and 
tried  to  seize  my  preserver's  hand.  But  he  checked  me  with 
an  authoritative  gesture  and  said  sternly : 

'  It  is  extremely  silly  of  girls  to  run  about  alone  in  fields 
where  there  are  herds  of  cattle — remember  that  another  time/ 
He  nodded  curtly,  and  without  troubling  himself  further  about 
me  ran  off  in  the  direction  of  the  College. 

"  Maybe  you  knew  that  boy,  Monsieur  le  Consul? "  I  asked 
gently. 

There  was  a  curious  light  in  his  dark  eyes  as  if  he  were 
gazing  into  his  long-forgotten  happy  youth ;  but  as  he  caught 
my  expectant  look  fixed  upon  him,  he  frowned  and  answered 
coldly,  "  No,  I  cannot  say  I  remember," 


258  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Will  you  believe  me,  Annaliebe,  that  I  had  nothing  in  my 
heart  but  kindness  for  this  man?  He  had  saved  my  young  life 
— himself  hardly  more  than  a  child — at  the  risk  of  his  own. 
I  remembered  no  longer  his  fame,  his  exalted  position;  I  only 
saw  the  little  pale  cadet  who  had  rescued  me  from  deadly  peril. 
I  was  deeply  moved,  but  controlling  my  emotion  as  best  I 
could  I  murmured,  "  Monsieur  le  Consul,  may  I  venture  on 
one  more  recollection  of  my  youth?" 

He  said  nothing,  but  nodded  his  head  musingly. 

"  About  a  year  after  the  incident  I  have  just  related,"  I  re- 
sumed, "  I  was  once  more  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Brienne 
at  the  country  house  of  the  Marquise  de  Montesson,  a  friend 
of  my  mother's. 

"  This  lady  proposed  one  day  to  take  me  to  the  Military 
College  at  Brienne,  having  received  tickets  for  the  annual  ex- 
amination of  the  cadets.  It  was  the  custom  from  time  imme- 
morial that  the  scholars  who  gained  prizes  should  be  crowned 
by  the  ladies,  to  which  end  the  guests — this  time  the  Marquise 
among  the  number — always  brought  wreaths  with  them. 

"  I  was  looking  forward  eagerly  to  this  ceremony,  for  I  had 
never  forgotten  my  youthful  preserver  and  hoped  I  might  now 
see  him  again.  I  had  never  even  told  my  parents  of  my  nar- 
row escape,  but  had  raised  an  altar  of  gratitude  in  my  heart  to 
the  boy — whose  very  name  was  unknown  to  me.  What  added 
zest  to  my  anticipations  was  the  thought  that  he  would  not 
be  likely  to  recognise  me,  seeing  that  in  this  year  I  had  grown 
out  of  the  weakness  of  my  childhood  and  had  become  tall  and 
strong — a  very  different  creature  from  the  delicate  little  girl 
of  the  year  before.  So  with  a  beating  heart  I  took  the  wreath 
from  the  servant  who  was  carrying  it  and  secretly  hoped  I 
might  have  the  good  fortune  to  be  able  to  give  it  to  my  youth- 


NAPOLEON'S  BELIEF  IN  HIS  STAR.  259 

ful  hero.  The  wreath  was  a  large  and  beautiful  one,  composed 
entirely  of  laurel  leaves." 

I  had  got  so  far  in  my  story  when  I  was  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  a  strange  sound — half  sigh,  half  exclamation  of  joy 
• — and  the  next  moment  the  Consul  had  sprung  forward  and 
clasped  both  my  hands  in  his.  Overwhelming  emotion  shone 
in  his  dark  eyes  and  trembled  in  his  voice  when  he  spoke. 

"  So  you  were  that  sweet  kind  girl,  Mademoiselle?  Oh, 
ask  what  you  will  of  me,  I  promise  you  beforehand  to  grant 
it — no  matter  what  it  is.  Will  you  accept  a  pension — a  post  of 
any  kind?  You  shall  have  your  property  back — I  am  more 
than  overjoyed  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  serve  you!  " 

You  may  imagine,  my  Annaliebe,  how  startled  and  amazed 
I  was  at  this  sudden  outburst,  this  rapture  of  kindness,  from 
the  man  who,  but  a  moment  before,  had  shown  himself  so  stern 
and  unapproachable!  I  had  no  answer  ready,  all  I  could  do 
was  to  falter  without  reflection,  "  Oh,  Sire,  what  have  I  done 
to  deserve  this  gratitude?  " 

"What,  this  too!  "  broke  in  Bonaparte  in  a  tone  of  meas- 
ureless excitement.  "  The  royal  title — for  the  first  time — 
front  *rour  lips,  my  dear,  infallible  little  Prophetess! — And 
once  more  your  words  will  come  true,"  he  continued,  with  the 
strange,  far-away  look  of  a  Seer.  "  Yes,  I  shall  one  day  wear 
the  crown  and  clasp  the  Royal  mantle  round  my  shoulders — 
now  I  know  it  for  certain. — You  set  that  laurel  wreath  on  my 
young  head  in  the  far-off  days  at  Brienne — the  laurel  crown 
that  was  to  be  followed  by  so  many  others.  You  whispered  to 
me  then — 'May  it  bring  you  good  luck!'  and  truly  it  did,  as  you 
very  well  know. — I  am  a  fatalist,  Mademoiselle,  and  since  you 
have  foretold  it  me,  I  feel  the  Crown  of  France  upon  my 


260  ^LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

brow,  I  see  the  Sceptre  of  the  great  Realm  already  in  my  hand ! 
How  can  I  ever  thank  you  enough? 

"  But  first  the  restitution  of  your  property — "  He  seated 
himself  at  the  great  writing-table,  wrote  a  few  hurried  lines, 
rang  the  bell  and  called  to  the  Chamberlain,  who  entered  at 
the  summons — "  Bourrienne." 

I  assure  you,  Annaliebe,  I  felt  so  dazed  and  bewildered  by 
the  rapid  and  extraordinary  change  in  the  Consul's  manner  as 
well  as  by  his  evidences  of  amazing  superstition,  obviously 
uttered  in  entire  good  faith,  that  I  sank  into  a  chair  and  cov- 
ering my  eyes  with  my  hand  endeavoured  to  collect  my  scat- 
tered senses. 

Very  soon  the  door  opened  and  Bourrienne,  the  Consul's 
private  secretary,  entered.  "  Take  this  paper  to  the  Minister 
Regnier,"  said  Bonaparte,  "  and  tell  him  to  arrange  at  once 
for  the  restitution  of  Mademoiselle  de  Corn-tot's  property." 
When  the  secretary  had  left  the  room  Bonaparte  turned  to 
me,  and  holding  out  both  his  hands,  with  a  beaming  face  said, 
"  Now  was  that  right — will  you  consider  this  as  the  first  fruits 
of  my  gratitude?  " 

I  could  only  bow  my  head  and  stammer  a  few  confused 
words  of  thanks. 

Then,  drawing  up  a  large  tapestry-covered  chair  beside  his 
writing-table  and  seating  himself  in  another,  he  said  with  a 
smile — "  Now  please  sit  down  here  and  let  us  have  a  little  chat 
about  my  young  days  in  Brienne,  the  only  really  happy  ones, 
despite  my  later  fame  and  splendour,  I  ever  knew.  You 
see,"  he  added  almost  sadly,  "  I  have  so  few  people  about  me 
in  whom  I  can  place  any  real  confidence  and  stand  so  lonely 
here  upon  the  heights,  that  it  is  an  unspeakable  relief  to  be  able 
to  unburden  myself  to  a  friend  out  of  my  far-off  youth.  They 


NAPOLEON'S  CONFIDENCES.  26l 

tell  me  that  you  are  known  here  as  '  la  plus  fidele  des  fidtles.' 
I  trust  you  to  keep  all  I  confide  in  you  now  faithfully  locked  in 
your  own  bosom." 

So  we  sat  there  like  two  old  friends,  I  leaning  back  in  my 
great  arm-chair,  the  Consul  sitting  before  his  writing-table, 
his  eyes  generally  fixed  on  a  painting  on  the  ceiling  represent- 
ing the  Triumph  of  Minerva,  or  starting  up  from  time  to  time 
to  pace  the  room  excitedly. 

I  felt  myself — as  you  may  imagine — in  a  very  peculiar  sit- 
uation, and  yet  strangely  moved  as  I  listened  to  the  great 
man's  account  of  his  life.  It  seemed  to  me  that,  excited  by  the 
unexpected  encounter  with  the  person  whom,  in  his  fatalistic 
way,  he  regarded  as  the  augurer  of  his  good  fortune,  he  felt 
an  irresistible  impulse  to  unburden  his  heart  of  matters  which 
he  otherwise  kept  strictly  secret.  It  was  in  some  sort  a  con- 
fession, during  which  he  confided  things  to  me  which  moved 
my  soul  to  shuddering  admiration,  so  strangely  were  they  com- 
pounded  of  the  highest  and  noblest  sentiments  and  the  most 
glaring  egotism. 

Some  day  perhaps  I  may  tell  you  something  of  it;  for  the 
present  I  am  bound  in  honour  to  be  silent.  I  told  the  Consul 
that  I  was  deeply  touched  and  grateful  that  he  should  think  me 
worthy  of  this  glimpse  into  his  innermost  feelings. 

He  had  been  talking  thus  to  me  of  himself  and  his  past 
for  about  half  an  hour,  when  he  glanced  at  the  clock  and  broke 
off  suddenly,  saying  a  number  of  people  were  waiting  still  to 
see  him  and  that  he  must  therefore  take  leave  of  me  for  the 
present.  "  But,  Mademoiselle,"  he  added,  "  I  have  not  finished 
yet;  you  must  come  here  frequently  and  let  me  pour  my  con- 
fidences into  your  faithful  ear !  " 

What  could  I  answer?  A  strange  sense  of  fear  and  shrinking 


262  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

had  mingled  with  my  admiration  while  I  listened  to  the  con- 
fidences of  this  man  of  might,  whose  deeds  set  him  among  the 
demi-gods  of  old.  The  thunder  of  the  World's  History  rolled 
past  me  and  stunned  my  brain.  I  am  but  a  poor  weak  woman, 
and  part  of  what  I  had  just  heard  was  so  terrible,  so  soul-com- 
pelling that  I  rather  hailed  the  interruption  as  a  relief. 

I  rose.  "  Let  me  thank  you  once  more,  Monsieur  le  Con- 
sul, for  the  honour  of  your  confidence,"  I  said.  "  Whatever 
you  think  fit  to  tell  me  shall  never  go  any  further.  And  as  to 
your  faults,  the  political  sins  of  which  you  accuse  yourself,  who 
can  judge  them  by  the  ordinary  standard?  The  most  of  them 
are  virtues  in  a  ruler.  What  is  commendable  in  the  private  in- 
dividual may  be  the  ruin  of  the  Head  of  a  State.  It  was  too 
much  goodness  that  brought  your  august  predecessor  to  the 
scaffold." 

"  I  thank  you,  Mademoiselle,"  returned  the  Consul  gently, 
"  you  have  understood  me.  And  now  adieu  and  au  revoir" 

He  gave  me  his  hand  with  a  winning  smile;  I  curtseyed 
low  and  left  the  room. 

I  seemed  to  move  in  a  dream,  I  saw  nobody;  I  scarcely 
heard  Talleyrand's  congratulations  on  the  unusual  length  of 
the  audience.  And  it  was  not  the  thought  that  I  had  achieved 
my  object,  that  I  was  restored  to  ease  and  fortune  that  so 
moved  me,  it  was  the  consciousness  that  from  the  plain  un- 
assuming woman  of  yesterday  I  had  suddenly  become  the  con- 
fidante of  the  most  secret  emotions  of  this  omnipotent  Hero. 

On  leaving  the  Tuileries  I  made  EdmeVs  coachman  drive 
me  out  into  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  for  a  little  while  to  give  me 
time  to  collect  my  agitated  thoughts,  and  when  I  finally  re- 
turned to  my  friend,  who  had  become  quite  anxious  at  my 
long  absence,  I  told  her  of  my  wonderful  recognition  of  the 


NAPOLEON'S  MYSTICAL  TENDENCIES.  263 

Consul  and  of  the  prompt  restitution  of  my  property,  but  not 
a  word  of  the  rest. 

When  she  heard  of  the  Consul's  firm  persuasion  that  my 
wish  had  brought  him  luck,  she  said  that  in  that  case  I  had  the 
ball  at  my  feet  here  and  could  do  what  I  liked  with  the  Con- 
sul. She  then  gave  me  other  instances  of  the  great  man's 
superstition,  from  which  one  must  infer  that  he  is  very  mys- 
tically inclined. 

Thus  she  described  how  artfully  Madame  Josephine  had 
contrived  to  work  upon  these  mystical  tendencies  for  her  own 
advantage  by  persuading  Napoleon  that  it  was  her  star  that 
controlled  his  destiny,  quoting  as  her  reason  for  this  assertion 
the  fortune  foretold  to  her  by  an  old  gipsy  in  Martinique: 
"  You  will  one  day  be  more  than  a  Queen  and  yet  die  in  a  hos- 
pital." 

"  More  than  a  Queen  " — you  see  the  inference,  my  Anna- 
liebe?  And  in  truth,  I  fancy  the  fulfilment  of  this  presage  is 
not  far  off;  the  second  half  of  the  prediction  may  yet  be  made 
clear  in  the  time  to  come. 

Then  here  is  a  rather  interesting  anagram  which  Edmee 
gave  me  to  puzzle  over  and  which  I  enclose  for  your  diversion. 
It  runs  thus — 

"  On  a  decouvert  dans  les  mots  '  revolution  franchise '  une 
anagramme  fort  singuliere.  Voici  la  maniere  de  la  faire:  on 
tire  d'abord  de  revolution  franchise  le  mot  '  veto '  qui  s'y 
trouve,  et  apres  qu'on  l'a  supprime,  on  reunit  ce  qui  reste  de 
lettres  et  Ton  en  forme  la  phrase — '  Un  Corse  la  finira.'  " 

I  am  curious  to  see  how  soon  Bonaparte  will  shake  off  his 
two  "shadow"  colleagues.  There  was  a  very  tumultuous  scene 
in  the  Legislative  Chamber  the  other  day  when  one  of  the 
members  ventured  to  hint  at  the  Imperial  Crown  being  offered 


264  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

to  Bonaparte — a  certain  Monsieur  Bougival  and  his  party 
made  a  frightful  uproar  against  it.  Nevertheless,  I  firmly  be- 
lieve the  day  is  not  far  hence  when  Bonaparte  will  be  the  abso- 
lute monarch  of  this  realm, — whether  under  the  title  of  Con- 
sul or  Emperor  is  quite  immaterial. 

My  next  step  will  be  to  visit  my  chateau  of  Mont  Courtot 
and  take  possession  of  it  again.  Retrazet,  unfortunately,  was 
burned  down  during  the  Revolution.  I  hardly  think  I  shall 
rebuild  it — Camille  must  see  to  that  some  day.  The  land  is  let 
out  on  lease  by  the  government  but  the  rents  are  to  be  paid  in 
to  me  now,  beginning  from  the  ist  of  October  last.  This  is  a 
very  welcome  arrangement;  altogether,  you  cannot  think  what 
a  delightful  feeling  it  is  after  all  these  years  of  straitened 
pecuniary  circumstances  to  be  once  more  a  chatelaine  and  to 
have  ample  resources  at  my  command. 

The  moment  I  have  got  Mont  Courtot  in  proper  order  you, 
my  dearest  and  best  of  friends,  must  both  of  you  come  to  visit 
me.  My  first  errand  to-day  was  to  go  to  Edmee's  carriage 
builder,  of  whom  I  bought  a  "  berline  "  to  be  sent  to  you  in  re- 
turn for  the  carriage  you  so  generously  gave  me  for  the 
journey.  It  will  be  despatched  in  a  few  days. 

And  now  farewell,  darling  Annaliebe.  I  am  so  thankful  to 
have  the  dreadful  weight  of  the  audience  off  my  mind!  How 
earnestly  I  thank  God  too  that  matters  took  such  a  favourable 
turn  for  me.  My  devoted  love  to  you  all. 

CECILE. 

The  prediction  made  to  Madame  Josephine  during  her 
early  girlhood  in  Martinique  has  been  much  doubted;  but,  sup- 
posing it  to  be  true,  the  second  part  may  find  its  explanation  in 


NAPOLEON'S  STAR.  265 

the  fact  that  the  Chateau  of  Malmaison  where  Josephine  died 
actually  was  once  a  Hospital. 

That  Napoleon  was  deeply  imbued  with  the  belief  in  an 
ever  active  spiritual  world  is  confirmed  by  the  writings  of 
many  of  his  contemporaries.  Madame  de  Remusat  speaks  of 
Bonaparte's  love  of  ghost  stories.  His  true  connection  with 
the  fortune-teller  Lenormand  has  never  been  explained,  but  it 
certainly  had  some  spiritualistic  foundation.  Turquan  too 
speaks  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  great  weight  attached  by  Bona- 
parte on  all  occasions  to  presentiments  and  dreams,  which  he 
often  allowed  to  influence  his  actions. 

Constant  confirms  the  story  told  in  the  foregoing  letter  of 
Madame  Josephine  and  her  star.  He  even  quotes  her  actual 
words  to  Napoleon :  "  They  talk  of  your  star,  but  it  is  mine 
which  influences  your  life,  for  it  was  to  me  the  high  destiny 
was  foretold." 

Later  on,  as  Empress,  Josephine  had  ever  the  fear  before 
her  eyes  that  Bonaparte  would  cast  her  off  for  her  childless- 
ness, and  succeeded  in  deferring  that  catastrophe  for  long  by 
assuring  him  that  his  good  fortune  would  forsake  him  if  he 
repudiated  her.  And  so,  to  a  certain  degree,  it  actually  fell  out, 
for  Napoleon's  fortunes  began  to  wane  almost  simultaneously 
with  his  divorce  from  Josephine  and  his  marriage  to  Marie 
Louise  of  Austria. 

Not  till  Waterloo,  however,  did  Napoleon's  firm  reliance 
on  his  star  forsake  him.  When  all  was  lost  there,  he  is  said  to 
have  turned  to  Coulaincourt  with  the  words,  "  My  star  has  set 
— I  see  it  no  longer." 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 
FIFTEENTH   LETTER. 

PARIS,  3d  Germinal  XI. 

My  Annaliebe: 

I  still  feel  as  if  I  were  living  in  a  dream.  The  extraordinary 
succession  of  events  that  have  just  happened  to  me,  the  un- 
expected change  of  fortune — it  quite  bewilders  and  confuses 
me. 

My  days  pass  now  in  one  round  of  pleasures  and  entertain- 
ments. Whether  the  story  of  my  long  audience  with  the  Con- 
sul and  the  subsequent' restitution  of  my  property  has  spread 
abroad  and  people  are  curious  to  see  me,  I  know  not,  but 
Edmee  and  I  are  simply  overwhelmed  with  invitations.  These 
alternate  with  visits  to  the  theatres  and  other  places  of  pub- 
lic amusement  till  I  feel  as  if  I  were  living  in  a  whirlpool. 

What  a  contrast  to  the  peaceful  calm  of  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  years  spent  at  your  side,  my  best  and  dearest! 

But  now  to  tell  you  something  of  these  gay  doings. — A 
few  evenings  ago  we  went  to  the  Opera  House  to  see  the  per- 
formance of  a  hunting  ballet,  "  La  chasse  du  jeune  Henri," 
with  Mehul's  delightful  music.  There  were  about  twenty 
horses  trotting  about  the  stage  at  once,  and  my  delighted 
Parisians  roared  themselves  hoarse  with  applause. 

Next  morning  Edmee  persuaded  me  to  accompany  her  to 

266 


THE  ENGLISH   IN  PARIS.  267 

the  Pantheon  where,  amongst  many  others,  I  saw  the  tombs 
of  Voltaire  and  Rousseau.  All-conquering  Death  has  wiped 
away  the  enmity  that  existed  between  these  two  in  life  and 
there  they  lie  now  peaceably  side  by  side. 

These  were  the  men  whose  writings  helped  to  bring  about 
the  cataclysm  of  the  Revolution.  They  have  gone  to  their 
long  home,  the  Revolution  is  over  and  done  with  and — things 
are  very  much  the  same  as  they  were  before.  To  what  end 
then  all  that  horror  and  bloodshed  ? . . .  Oh,  it  is  a  strange 
and  enigmatical  world! 

As  to  society,  one  might  almost  say  that  the  Thames  had 
suddenly  emptied  itself  into  the  Seine.  There  are  over  8000 
sons  and  daughters  of  Britannia  in  Paris  just  now,  and  the  ob- 
server has  many  opportunities  for  making  interesting  com- 
parisons between  the  rival  nations. 

I  should  not  like  to  swear  that  ces  dames  are  without  ex- 
ception "  Miladies  " ;  some  of  them  look  to  me  as  if  they  hailed 
from  the  near  neighbourhood  of  Covent  Garden  Market,  but 
money  confers  all  the  distinction  necessary  in  Paris  at  present. 
There  are  also  several  reunions  in  which  Englishmen  of  similar 
political  opinions  congregate.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland,  who 
has  taken  the  charming  house  of  the  well-known  Dr.  Willoun, 
receives  the  highest  English  nobility,  while  the  members  of 
the  Opposition  gather  round  Lord  Holland  and  are  much  in 
request  at  Madame  de  Recamier's  country  house. 

British  Art  is  also  hurrying  into  Paris — Mr.  Kemble,  who 
competes  with  our  Talma,  and  Miss  Vinci  at  the  Opera  Bouffe. 
The  great  Madame  Mara  too  is  daily  expected  from  London. 

An  exhibition  of  National  Products  was  held  in  the  Louvre 
lately,  and  when  we  visited  it  we  could  not  but  notice  how  dif- 
ferently the  many  English  present  behaved  from  our  own 


268  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

countrymen.  While  the  latter  laughed  and  gossiped  and 
seemed  to  look  upon  the  whole  affair  merely  as  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  making  bad  puns,  these  foreigners  examined 
everything  with  interested  attention  and  expressed  themselves 
most  ably  on  various  points  of  the  Exhibition. 

We  were  in  the  Theatre  Frangais  the  other  evening  for 
the  debut  of  a  Mademoiselle  Duchesnois,  who  has  since  be- 
come the  rage.  The  play  was  Phedre,  but  my  attention  was 
much  distracted  by  the  Prince  de  Poix,  who  shared  our  loge 
and  who  persisted  in  whispering  all  sorts  of  nonsense  and 
wicked  stories  in  my  ear  during  the  performance.  There  was 
one,  for  instance,  of  the  crafty  Fouche  and  the  trick  by  which 
he  had  forced  a  certain  prelate,  one  of  the  chief  opponents  of 
the  Concordat,  to  give  his  vote  for  it.  This  prelate,  it  seems, 
was  intimate  with  a  lady  of  somewhat  doubtful  reputation,  a 
Madame  Visconti,  which  circumstance  Fouche  ferreted  out, 
and  surprising  him  late  one  evening  with  the  lady  in  a  very 
compromising  situation,  he  threatened  him  with  publicity  and 
so  won  over  an  enemy  on  whom  even  the  First  Consul  had 
tried  his  hand  in  vain. 

The  Prince  then  went  on  to  speak  of  Bonaparte's  appoint- 
ment as  Consul  for  life  and  his  intention  of  removing  his  resi- 
dence to  St.  Cloud,  whither  his  Court  choir  and  Chaplain  had 
already  preceded  him;  also  that  the  First  Consul  had  just 
nominated  his  brother  Lucian  chief  officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honour — perhaps,  after  all,  we  should  soon  have  another 
Connetable  de  France!  And  more  to  the  same  effect,  though 
I  could  see  that  he  was  more  cautious  than  formerly  in  what  he 
said  to  me,  especially  on  the  subject  of  the  Consul,  having 
heard  of  course  of  the  results  of  my  interview  with  the  Great 


THE  NEWEST  THING  IN  GENTLEMEN'S  HATS.  269 

Man.    But  you  should  have  seen  his  droll  roguish  eyes  all  the 
time! 

He  brought  with  him  the  very  newest  thing  in  gentlemen's 
hats  which  I  had  not  seen  before — the  brim  turned  up  sharply 
back  and  front  against  a  flattened  crown.  This  shape  is  called 
"  a  la  Ventinelle  " — I  do  not  know  why — but  I  should  dearly 
love  to  see  the  Herr  Candidatus  in  one,  he  would  look  too  de- 
lightfully comical !  (But,  if  you  love  me,  do  not  tell  him  I  said 
so.)  With  this  hat  many  gentlemen  still  wear  the  perruque  a 
nceuds,  though  Bonaparte  has  long  since  discarded  the  fashion. 

In  a  few  days  I  shall  start  on  my  journey  into  the  Vendee. 
What  memories  it  will  awaken  of  my  happy  untroubled  child- 
hood! 

Farewell  then  for  to-day,  my  own  Annaliebe. 

Ever  in  fondest  affection  thy 

CECILE. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
SIXTEENTH  LETTER. 

PARIS  once  more,  igth  Germinal  XL 

What  a  long  time  since  you  had  news  of  me,  amie  de  mon 
ame!  Your  last  welcome  letter  was  forwarded  to  Mont 
Courtot  and  reached  me  there  the  day  before  my  return  to 
Paris — a  long  journey  for  it  to  make;  for  my  old  home  is  a 
hundred  miles  further  from  you  than  this  city. 

These  have  been  days  of  pleasure,  but,  as  you  may  imagine, 
fraught  with  pain,  that  I  have  spent  in  my  childhood's  home. 
I  travelled — in  your  dear  familiar  carriage  of  course — over 
Chateaudun,  Tours,  and  Poitiers,  and  arrived  at  my  destina- 
tion on  the  fifth  day.  Oh,  my  Annaliebe,  can  you  not  imagine 
my  feelings  when  the  tower  of  the  Cathedral  of  Poitiers  rose 
before  me  on  the  horizon,  when  I  caught  the  first  sparkle  of 
the  blue  Charente  and  the  irresistible  glamour  of  "  home  " 
began  to  weave  itself  about  me?  There  were  the  well-remem- 
bered leafy  woods,  the  peaceful  herds  grazing  in  the  pastures, 
and  I  heard  once  more  the  familiar  patois  which  in  its  mixture 
of  Latin  and  French  sounds  so  unintelligible  to  the  stranger. 
The  racial  type  too  is  quite  peculiar  to  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  has  remained  so  unchanged  in  feature,  customs, 
and  characteristics  since  the  days  of  the  great  migration  of 
tribes  into  the  West,  that  they  are  still  known  to  the  surround- 

270 


CECILE'S  OLD   HOME.  2?  I 

ing  provinces  as  "  the  Huns."  Handsome  my  beloved  country- 
men are  not  with  their  large  heads,  sallow  complexion,  and 
small  twinkling  eyes,  but  in  return  they  are  God-fearing  and 
faithful  unto  death,  as  indeed  they  proved  in  the  past  years. 
They  beggared  themselves  for  their  King  and  fought  to  the 
last  drop  of  blood,  and  if  there  had  been  more  unity  of  pur- 
pose among  their  leaders — d'Elbee,  Jacquelin,  Charette,  and 
the  rest  of  them — who  can  tell  but  what  they  would  have 
driven  the  Terrorists  out  of  Paris  and  placed  the  King  upon 
the  throne  once  more?  But  as  things  fell  out,  they  have  had 
to  suffer  incredible  hardships.  After  their  defeat  at  Chollet 
the  entire  population  of  the  Vendee  was  outlawed.  With 
tigerish  frenzy  the  Jacobins  slaughtered  women,  children,  and 
aged  people,  and  smoking  ruins  marked  the  path  of  the  victors. 
The  horrors  they  witnessed  as  boys  have  left  indelible  traces 
on  the  faces  of  the  men,  and  they  are  a  grave  and  sad-eyed 
people,  but  they  have  won  for  all  time  their  title  of  "  les 
fideles,"  and  here  the  Bourbons  are  still  kings.  Their  por- 
traits share  with  the  Saints  the  private  altar  you  find  in  every 
house,  no  matter  how  small. 

A  bitter  disappointment  awaited  me  at  Mont  Courtot.  The 
house  of  my  fathers  was  still  standing  and  my  heart  beat  in 
joyful  anticipation  of  finding  things  as  I  remembered  them  of 
old.  But  on  nearer  inspection  I  discovered  that  this  chateau 
had  not  escaped  the  universal  destruction  which  laid  waste  the 
rest  of  the  country.  The  walls  were  intact,  but  the  interior 
was  ravaged  beyond  description — a  scene  of  horror  and  deso- 
lation— and  all  idea  of  living  there  out  of  the  question.  So  I 
lodged  for  two  days  with  the  man  who  has  rented  the  property 
for  years  and  lives  at  the  foot  of  the  castle  hill.  This  tenant 
has  certainly  made  the  most  of  his  time!  He  is  one  of  those 


LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

astute  foreigners  who  swarmed  into  the  country  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  seeking  what  they  might  devour.  He  still 
wraps  himself  about  in  a  mantle  of  devotion  to  Liberty,  but, 
nevertheless,  is  a  merciless  tryant  to  his  people  and  universally 
hated.  The  good  old  Cure,  who  only  returned  some  weeks 
ago,  told  me  they  were  all  thankful  I  regained  possession  of 
the  property  just  in  time  to  prevent  Monsieur  le  Maitre — so 
my  worthy  tenant  is  called — from  carrying  out  his  rumoured 
intention  of  buying  Mont  Courtot  with  the  money  he  has  got 
by  cutting  down  the  wood.  Imagine  my  feelings  if  I  had  ar- 
rived here  to  find  this  man  in  full  possession  of  the  lands  of 
my  forefathers !  Of  course,  I  took  the  first  opportunity  of  get- 
ting away  from  this  intolerable  hospitality,  and  going  over  to 
Poitiers,  went  to  a  notary  recommended  by  the  Cure  and 
placed  my  affairs  in  his  hands.  Monsieur  le  Maitre  at  once 
received  notice  to  quit,  and  it  will  not  be  long,  I  trust,  before 
Mont  Courtot  will  be  restored  to  its  former  condition  of  com- 
fort and  beauty.  What  I  should  have  done  without  the  assist- 
ance of  the  good  Cure  I  really  do  not  know.  In  any  case, 
some  six  months  must  elapse  before  the  chateau  is  habitable, 
and  I  must  look  out  for  a  trustworthy  man  to  perform  the 
duties  of  steward. 

How  thankful  I  should  have  been  for  some  advice  and 
assistance  from  your  clear-headed  husband  or  Uncle  Briest! 
I  am  so  terribly  ignorant  in  all  business  matters  and  Had  not  a 
soul  I  could  consult.  I  hope  I  may  soon  have  the  joy  of  hear- 
ing that  you  think  favourably  of  my  plan  of  your  all  coming 
over  to  stay  with  me  as  soon  as  Chateau  Courtot  is  at  all  pre- 
sentable. 

I  returned  to  Paris  the  way  I  came,  only  making  a  slight 
detour  in  order  to  visit  Chateau  Trellissac.  I  will  not  open  up 


MARIE  ANTOINETTE'S  FURNITURE.  2/3 

the  old  wounds,  dearest, — no  need  to  tell  you  what  my 
emotions  were  on  seeing  the  dear  spot  again  where  I  had  spent 
many  a  happy  hour  as  a  child  with  my  lost  love!  The  ancient 
castle  is  in  ruins  like  the  rest,  but  the  splendidly  wooded  park 
— our  favourite  playground — is  but  little  changed.  Tearfully 
I  bade  farewell  to  this  grave  of  some  of  my  happiest  memories 
and  turned  my  face  once  more  towards  Paris. 

Edmee  received  me  with  open  arms  and  at  once  handed 
me  a  missive  from  the  Conseiller  d'etat  Benezeth  informing  me 
that  the  Consul  desired  my  attendance  to-morrow  at  St.  Cloud. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  following  day  a  coach  with  four 
horses  arrived  to  fetch  me  to  the  palace,  and  in  it  sat  my  god- 
daughter Adele  de  Talhuet,  whom  Madame  Josephine  had 
thoughtfully  sent  to  bear  me  company. 

Madame  welcomed  me  first  in  her  apartments,  when  I  took 
the  opportunity  of  thanking  her  for  her  good  offices  in  further- 
ing my  cause  with  Bonaparte.  Her  husband,  she  told  me,  had 
given  her  an  account  of  our  mutual  recognition,  and  she  ex- 
pressed herself  as  delighted  that  the  Consul  had  had  some  one 
to  talk  to  of  the  happy  old  days  in  Brienne. 

The  Chateau  is  really  very  fine  since  its  restoration,  though 
the  government  has  had  to  pay  a  pretty  sum  from  first  to  last — 
over  a  million  francs  I  believe.  The  apartments  were  magnifi- 
cently furnished  and  decorated,  though  somewhat  too  gaudily 
for  my  taste. 

Madame  Josephine  presently  took  me  into  her  exquisite 
boudoir — a  surprise  from  the  Consul  on  leaving  Malmaison. 
It  is  entirely  hung — walls  as  well  as  windows — with  rose- 
coloured  and  white  silk.  The  first  moment  I  entered  the  room 
I  was  struck  by  the  strangely  familiar  aspect  of  the  furniture — 
all  delicate  carving  and  gilt,  and  covered  with  rose-coloured 


2/4  LETTERS   FROM   THE  BARONESS. 

silk  embroidered  in  darker  shades  with  here  and  there  a  glint 
of  gold  thread;  then  catching  sight  of  the  sphinxes  that  formed 
the  arms  of  the  chairs,  I  recognised  with  a  sharp  pang  the 
whole  ameublement.  It  was  from  the  private  apartments  of  my 
sweet  Queen  Marie  Antoinette  in  the  Trianon!  Josephine 
admitted  the  truth  of  my  surmise,  adding  that  that  was  why 
Napoleon's  present  had  given  her  so  much  pleasure.  Alas 
that  the  owners  should  go  and  the  inanimate  objects  remain! 

Well,  we  seated  ourselves  in  the  dainty  chairs  we  both  had 
seen  before  under  such  very  different  circumstances  and  con- 
versed on  old  friends  and  new  events,  many  of  Josephine's  ex- 
tremely candid  remarks  reminding  me  of  Madame  de  Cam- 
pan's  words  the  other  day  when  she  declared  that  Madame 
only  did  this  to  lead  people  on  to  similar  frankness.  There- 
fore I  was  very  guarded  in  my  replies. 

At  one  o'clock  Benezeth  appeared  to  conduct  me  to  the 
Consul,  who  greeted  me  with  the  utmost  cordiality,  and  made 
me  give  him  a  full,  true,  and  particular  account  of  my  journey 
and  its  results.  The  state  of  affairs  in  the  Vendee  interested  him 
greatly,  and  I  could  see  by  the  questions  he  put  to  me  how  ex- 
haustive was  his  knowledge  of  all  matters  concerning  the 
country  in  general. 

Afterwards,  he  begged  me  to  be  seated,  as  he  wished  to 
continue  his  account  of  his  life.  And  thus,  my  Annaliebe, 
passed  another  hour  which  I  may  count  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  my  life.  Once  more  I  was  rilled  with  admiration 
and  yet  with  fear  of  the  man  who  had  raised  himself  by  sheer 
force  of  intellect  and  indomitable  will  to  such  heights  as 
probably  no  man  has  ever  reached  before,  but  trampling 
mercilessly  on  every  obstacle,  be  it  friend  or  foe,  that  barred 
his  upward  progress. 


BONAPARTE  IS  TOLD  OF  HECTOR.  2/5 

Possibly  the  Consul  read  something  of  this  in  my  face,  for 
he  suddenly  rose  from  his  chair,  laid  a  hand  on  my  shoulder, 
and  said  kindly:  "  Now,  you  see,  I  have  frightened  you.  But 
do  not  be  afraid;  my  heart  has  room  for  gentler  emotions  too, 
as  you  will  discover  in  time.  I  have  told  you  so  much  about 
my  past/'  he  went  on  in  a  lighter  tone,  "  supposing  now  you 
tell  me  something  of  yourself  and  the  experiences  you  went 
through.  I  know  that  you  were  the  inseparable  companion 
of  the  unfortunate  Princesse  de  Lamballe  and  that  you  were 
condemned  to  death;  how  did  you  manage  to  escape?" 

So  I  told  him  in  as  few  words  as  possible  of  my  wonderful 
rescue  by  Hector,  my  flight  into  Germany,  and  my  quiet  happy 
life  with  my  dear  friends.  The  Consul  nodded  his  head 
musingly.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  these  Prussians  are  a  strong  and 
loyal  nation;  I  should  like  to  have  them  for  my  allies.  Ah," 
he  added,  returning  to  the  subject  of  the  Terror,  "  Paris  was 
one  great  madhouse  in  those  days,  but  I  shall  take  good  care 
that  such  a  thing  does  not  happen  again.  I  shall  keep  those 
Jacobins  down  with  a  strong  hand !  " 

The  period  of  my  audience  was  at  an  end,  for  Monsieur  de 
Remusat  now  announced  the  Minister  Talleyrand.  The  Con- 
sul rose,  and  going  to  his  writing-table  said,  "  By  the  way, 
what  did  you  say  was  the  name  of  your  brave  fiance  who  met 
his  death  in  rescuing  you?  " 

"  The  Vicomte  Hector  de  Trellissac,"  I  answered  in  a  low 
voice.  "  Ah,  then  a  Vendean,  too?  "  observed  Bonaparte,  evi- 
dently writing  the  name  on  a  sheet  of  paper.  Then,  turning  to 
me  and  holding  out  his  hand — "  You  hear,  Mademoiselle,  that 
Talleyrand  wants  me,  so  our  conversation  must  be  interrupted 
for  to-day.  I  hope,  however,  to  see  you  again  ere  long.  To- 
morrow the  solemn  function  of  the  re-establishment  of  the 


276  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

Church  takes  place,  which  I  daresay  you  would  like  to  see.  I 
will  have  a  place  reserved  for  you  in  Notre  Dame.  Adieu, 
my  dear  confidante,  and  au  revoir! " 

I  curtseyed  and  departed,  the  Consul's  carriage  again  being 
placed  at  my  disposal. 

And  so,  my  Annaliebe,  there  was  an  end  of  my  second  au- 
dience with  the  great  Consul,  during  which  I  got  a  still  deeper 
insight  into  the  character  of  this  most  unique  man.  Perhaps 
some  day  I  may  be  able  to  give  you  an  account  of  it  by  word 
of  mouth. 

The  next  morning — the  first  celebration  of  Easter  Day  for 
nine  years — the  church  bells  rang  in  the  day  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Church  and  her  doctrines.  The  Pope  has  been  obliged 
to  consent  to  the  curtailment  of  the  number  of  Festivals,  only 
Easter,  Whitsuntide,  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
and  All  Saints'  Day  being  retained,  but  otherwise  the  position 
of  the  Church  is  very  much  as  it  was  before  the  Revolution. 

As  the  clock  struck  n  one  of  the  state  carriages  arrived 
to  carry  us  (my  invitation  had  been  extended  to  Edmee)  to 
the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  the  whole  road  being  lined 
by  thousands  of  spectators.  We  were  received  at  the 
door  by  de  Remusat,  who  conducted  us  to  a  platform  to  the 
right  of  the  Choir.  These  platforms,  of  which  there  were  sev- 
eral, all  richly  draped  as  well  as  the  entire  nave  of  the 
Cathedral,  were  already  filled  to  overflowing  and  the  clergy  in 
full  canonicals  were  assembled  at  the  altars. 

Oh,  my  Annaliebe,  it  did  one's  heart  good  to  see  the  great 
Cathedral  once  more  thronged  with  reverent  people  and 
decked  in  all  its  stately  ornaments.  Could  this  be  the  same 
church  which  had  been  the  scene  of  so  many  shameless  deeds 
in  the  past  years ;  where  the  vile  mob  and  its  leaders  had  danced 


CEREMONY  AT  NOTRE  DAME.  277 

round  the  high  altar  howling  impious  songs  to  the  Goddess 
of  Reason?  So  low  had  it  fallen  that  only  ten  years  before 
Beaumarchais  boasted  to  the  King's  very  face  that  he  would 
have  his  Figaro  performed  in  Notre  Dame  if  he  were  forbidden 
the  theatres! 

To-day  the  mighty  columns  were  festively  decorated,  the 
pictures  of  the  Saints  were  in  their  old  accustomed  places,  and 
white-robed  acolytes  swung  their  censers  at  the  various  altars. 
And  now  the  thunder  of  sixty  cannon  boomed  out  over  the 
city,  the  majestic  tones  of  the  great  organ  rolled  through  the 
edifice  and  mingled  with  the  jubilant  shout  which  rose  from  the 
thronging  multitudes,  the  massive  portals  of  the  Cathedral 
swung  slowly  back,  and,  accompanied  by  a  regal  suite  of  Min- 
isters, Generals,  and  foreign  Ambassadors,  Bonaparte  entered 
the  Cathedral.  The  assembled  clergy  received  him  with  great 
pomp  of  incense  and  the  sprinkling  of  holy  water  and  con- 
ducted him  to  his  place  under  a  sumptuous  baldachin  in  front 
of  the  chancel. 

There  he  stood,  his  General's  uniform  looking  plain  and 
unpretentious  beside  the  gorgeous,  gold-laden  uniforms  of  the 
various  State  and  Military  officers,  and  yet  every  eye  was  ir- 
resistibly drawn  to  that  impassive  clear-cut  face,  stony  and 
inscrutable  as  Destiny.  In  spite  of  his  insignificant  stature  the 
man  looked  every  inch  a  king. — It  was  with  strangely  mixed 
feelings — half  proud,  half  fearful — that  I  reflected  that  this 
man  with  whose  name  all  France — nay,  all  Europe — was  ring- 
ing should  have  held  me  worthy  to  obtain  a  glimpse  into  his 
innermost  soul,  should  call  himself  "  my  friend." 

It  was  a  study  to  watch  his  absolutely  unmoved  demeanour 
while  the  Archbishop  of  Aix  extolled  him  and  the  new  gov- 


2/8  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

ernment  to  the  skies — the  same  Archbishop  who  crowned 
Louis  XVI. 

The  ceremony  did  not  last  very  long.  Again  the  cannons 
roared,  and  amid  prolonged  and  deafening  shouts  of  "  Vive 
Bonaparte — Vive  le  premier  Consul !  "  the  Omnipotent  One 
drove  back  to  the  Tuileries,  where  a  grand  gala-dinner  took 
place. 

All  this  will  interest  you  greatly,  and  I  know  that  you  re- 
joice with  me  that  my  affairs  have  taken  so  lucky  a  turn. 
Ever  in  unalterable  devotion, 

Your  CECILE. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 
SEVENTEENTH  LETTER. 

PARIS,  sth  Floreal  XL 

"  Rest  in  the  Lord— wait  patiently  for  Him, 
And  He  shall  give  thee  thy  heart's  desire." 

You  remember,  my  Annaliebe,  how  dear  old  Uncle  Briest 
comforted  me  with  those  words  years  ago — and  oh,  how  right 
he  was,  the  good  staunch-hearted  man!  For  my  heart's  de- 
sire has  been  granted  me — in  full,  in  overflowing  measure,  till 
I  can  only  clasp  my  hands  and  pray  in  deepest  gratitude 
and  humility,  "  Oh  my  God,  make  me  worthy  of  the  joy  Thou 
hast  brought  to  me." 

Annaliebe,  my  Hector  lives — God  has  given  him  back  to 
me! 

But  let  me  begin  from  the  very  beginning.  We  were  in- 
vited yesterday  evening  to  a  large  assembly  at  the  house  of  the 
Marquise  de  Noailles  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  but  did 
not  start  till  pretty  late  because  the  streets  were  very  crowded 
and  noisy,  the  return  of  the  troops  from  Egypt  having  occa- 
sioned great  rejoicings.  Companies  of  soldiers  marched 
through  the  streets,  colours  flying,  bands  playing;  the  Consul 
had  held  a  grand  review  at  the  Tuileries,  after  which  he  dis- 
tributed a  number  of  decorations  among  his  brave  old  compan- 

*79 


280  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

ions  in  arms  and  several  officers  had  been  promoted.  These 
gallant  sun-burnt  warriors  were  the  heroes  of  the  day,  and 
even  invaded  the  exclusive  circles  of  the  Faubourg  St.  Ger- 
main, several  of  its  members  having  entered  the  Army  of 
Egypt  to  fight  for  their  country  under  Afric's  burning  sun. 

Well,  as  I  said,  it  was  somewhat  late  before  we  reached  the 
Palais  Noailles  and  the  rooms  were  already  filled  with  guests. 
The  Marquise,  on  receiving  us,  said  she  could  promise  us  a 
variety  of  entertainment  for  the  evening.  She  had  engaged  the 
celebrated  "  mystificateur  "  Duguesclin  for  the  amusement  of 
the  young  people,  and  also  expected  her  nephew  Victor 
Noailles  with  several  of  his  brother  officers  from  the  Egyptian 
Army,  who  would  doubtless  entertain  us  with  stories  of  their 
experiences  in  the  Wonderland  of  the  Pyramids. 

Entering  the  salons  I  was  soon  hailed  on  all  sides  with 
congratulations  on  the  agreeable  turn  of  my  fortunes,  those 
of  the  guests  to  whom  I  was  a  stranger  begging  to  be  pre- 
sented for  that  purpose.  Among  those  I  knew  were  the  old 
Abbess  of  Abbeville  and  her  niece  Lady  Tollendal  with  two 
pretty  daughters,  the  Due  de  Liancourt  and  Princess  Therese, 
Madame  de  Sabatier,  Comtesse  Montesquieu,  and  of  course 
the  ubiquitous  Prince  de  Poix. 

When  "  Monsieur  le  mystificateur  "  arrived  presently  the 
youngest  Tollendal  came  to  me  and  begged  me  to  join  in  the 
games.  I  do  not  know  how  it  was — perhaps  a  presentiment  of 
coming  happiness — but  I  felt  gay  and  young  that  evening  as 
I  had  not  done  for  years,  and  acceded  to  the  pretty  creature's 
request,  though  I  had  no  business  by  rights  in  that  frolicsome 
gatire. 

This  game  of  "  mystifications  "  has  become  very  popular 
here  and  was  talked  of  that  evening  in  Malmaison,  though  it 


THE  GAME  OF  MYSTIFICATIONS.  28 1 

is  really  very  childish — much  the  same  as  "  the  stool  of  peni- 
tence "  our  Phillinchen  used  to  play  with  her  little  friends. 
Here  each  player  is  seated  in  turn  in  front  of  a  large  mirror 
into  which  he  gazes  and  has  to  guess  the  meaning  of  the  scenes 
depicted  behind  him  by  the  others,  representing  a  word,  a 
line  of  poetry,  a  bon  mot,  etc.  If  he  guesses  correctly — which  is 
of  course  made  as  difficult  for  him  as  possible — he  receives  a 
prize ;  if  not,  he  must  pay  a  forfeit. 

The  ingenious  originator  of  the  game  being  present  him- 
self, the  choice  of  words  and  pictures  was  particularly  mys- 
tifying, and  the  company  enjoyed  themselves  hugely  over  the 
extraordinary  mistakes  that  very  naturally  occurred. 

Luck  had  favoured  me  so  far,  and  I  had  always  managed  to 
guess  correctly,  when,  late  in  the  evening,  it  came  to  my  turn 
to  seat  myself  once  more  in  front  of  the  mirror. 

While  I  waited  for  the  development  of  the  enigma,  I 
amused  myself  by  gazing  into  the  curious  vista  which  pre- 
sented itself  before  me.  The  long  suite  of  rooms  was  open, 
the  great  folding  doors  thrown  wide,  and  at  the  extreme  end 
of  the  enfilade  hung  another  large  mirror,  exactly  opposite  the 
one  into  which  I  was  looking,  thus  producing  an  effect  to  the 
eye  as  if  the  rooms  stretched  away  indefinitely  into  the  dis- 
tance. 

While  I  was  engaged  in  following  out  this  optical  delusion, 
I  suddenly  saw  an  officer  in  the  becoming  uniform  of  the  Chas- 
seurs appear  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  vista. 

He  was  evidently  no  longer  young,  his  hair  and  moustache 
were  gray,  and  a  glittering  Order  hung  on  his  breast.  A  great 
scar  ran  from  the  bronzed  cheek  right  up  over  the  high  fore- 
head and  a  black  shade  concealed  the  left  eye,  but  the  other 
one  was  large  and  dark  and  the  nose  handsome  and  aquiline. 


282  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

I  cannot  describe  the  strange  impression  this  officer  made 
on  me  coming  out  of  space  like  a  ghost  and  advancing  towards 
me  through  the  long  line  of  rooms,  apparently  unknown  to  the 
groups  of  gentlemen  standing  about,  who  gazed  after  him  in 
astonishment.  He  came  slowly  nearer  and  nearer,  that  glow- 
ing dark  eye  fixed  upon  me  in  the  glass. 

Oh,  Annaliebe,  when  he  entered  the  salon  next  to  the  one 
in  which  I  was  seated  a  cold  shiver  ran  through  me,  as  when 
something  apparently  supernatural  confronts  one.  A  mys- 
terious spell  seemed  to  emanate  from  that  figure,  which  re- 
minded me  so  strangely  of  one  who  lived  only  in  my  heart  and 
memory. 

I  started  from  my  chair,  clasping  the  arms  with  convulsive 
fingers,  and  leaning  far  forward  gazed  with  fixed  and  staring 
eyes  into  the  depths  of  the  mirror.  What  was  it? — could  the 
dead  arise? — was  it  a  phantom,  the  apparition  of  my  lost  lover? 
Edmee  and  the  other  ladies,  alarmed  at  my  strange  behaviour, 
hurried  up  to  me.  "  Cecile,  Cecile,"  cried  my  friend,  "  what  is 
it?  What  is  the  matter?  " 

At  the  mention  of  my  name  I  saw  a  smile  of  beatitude  pass 
over  the  man's  features.  I  turned  round — saw  two  arms 
stretched  out  to  meet  me,  and  with  a  cry  of  "  Hector — my 
Hector!  "  sank  fainting  on  his  breast. 

But  my  unconsciousness  lasted  only  a  few  moments. 
Opening  my  eyes  again  I  saw  the  beloved  face  bending  over 
me,  and  the  very  words  he  whispered  when  he  rescued  me 
from  death  trembled  on  his  lips  once  more.  "  Cecile,  my 
Cecile,  have  I  found  you  again?"  "Yes,  Hector,"  I  cried, 
throwing  my  arms  round  his  neck,  "  and  this  time  never  to 
part  again ! " 

Tb.e  entire  company  had  hastened  in  from  the  other  rooms 


HECTOR.  283 

and  gazed  bewildered  at  this  extraordinary  scene.  They  did 
not  know  that  two  people  who  had  each  thought  the  other 
dead  had  now  come  together  again  after  long  weary  years. 

"  But  who  is  this  strange  officer? — how  did  he  come  here? 
— does  anybody  know  him?  "  were  the  questions  asked  by  sev- 
eral of  the  gentlemen.  Suddenly  through  the  confusion  came 
a  clear  ringing  voice — "  Ah,  mais  c'est  k  colonel  Hector!  Mon- 
sieur le  coknel,  je  vous  salue,  but  where  did  you  spring  from  ?  " 
and  Victor  de  Noailles  hurried  forward  with  outstretched 
hand. 

"  What! "  exclaimed  my  lover  with  a  beaming  smile,  "  do 
none  of  you  recognise  me? — at  least  only  this  one?  Have  I 
really  to  tell  you  my  name  ?  Well,  then,  I  am  Hector  de  Trel- 
lissac,  and  Cecile  de  Courtot  here  is  my  fiancee ! " 

Their  astonishment  beggars  description.  At  first  they 
woud  not  believe  that  the  valiant  Colonel  Hector  of  the 
Egyptian  Army  and  their  dear  friend  and  cousin  the  Vicomte 
de  Trellissac  whom  they  had  long  counted  dead  were  one  and 
the  same  person.  Then  of  course  they  overwhelmed  us  with 
joyful  congratulations,  and  I  assure  you  the  reunion  of  this 
old  pair  of  lovers  will  long  remain  a  tale  of  wonder  and  amaze- 
ment to  them  all. 

PARIS,  7th  Flor6al. 

My  Annaliebe:  I  was  interrupted  in  my  letter  to  you  by 
Hector — you  will  not  be  vexed  with  me,  I  am  sure.  Our 
abiding  friendship  can  in  no  wise  be  altered  by  my  great  hap- 
piness; on  the  other  hand,  you  can  well  imagine  how  much  we 
have  to  say  to  each  other. 

I  am  hardly  used  to  it  yet,  my  heart  has  not  yet  accustomed 
itself  to  the  thought  that  it  has  really  found  him  again,  my  be- 


284  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

loved,  my  long  lost.  Oh  Annaliebe,  what  it  was  to  wake  on 
the  morning  after  and  to  remember — he  is  alive — you  have 
found  him  once  more!  The  joy  is  almost  more  than  I  can 
bear.  I  still  cannot  help  thinking  it  is  a  dream,  and  yet  there  he 
stands,  my  beloved,  my  Hector,  and  draws  me  to  his  warm 
and  faithful  heart. 

You  will  ask,  dearest,  how  it  all  came  about — his  recovery 
from  the  jaws  of  death  and  subsequent  career,  so  I  cannot  do 
better  than  describe  the  happy  conversation  that  took  place 
between  us  yesterday,  letting  Hector  speak  for  himself. 

We  went  down  into  Edmee's  beautiful  grounds  behind  the 
palace  and  seated  ourselves  on  a  secluded  seat  under  the  mag- 
nificent old  trees.  A  flood  of  morning  sunshine  bathed  the 
smooth  green  lawns,  the  roar  of  the  great  city  came  muffled 
to  us  out  of  the  distance,  and  the  bushes  close  by  were  alive 
with  a  fluttering,  twittering  crowd  of  little  birds.  It  was  like 
a  fairy  tale.  I  had  awakened  from  my  long  deep  sleep  and  the 
Prince  was  beside  me. 

Hand  clasped  in  hand  we  sat  together,  and  Hector  began 
his  story. 

"  That  blow  which  felled  me  to  the  ground,  my  Cecile,  de- 
prived me  of  consciousness,  out  of  which,  however,  I  was  soon 
roused  by  the  trampling  of  the  crowd.  I  must  have  rolled  then 
to  one  side  and  come  under  the  cart,  nothing  else  could  have 
saved  me  from  being  trodden  to  death  by  the  terrified  mob. 

"  Here  I  must  have  been  found  later  on  and  taken  to  a  hos- 
pital, but  I  know  nothing  for  certain,  the  blackness  of  night 
lay  upon  me.  That  blow  had  struck  out  one  of  my  eyes  and, 
for  a  time,  injured  my  brain — my  memory  was  utterly  gone. 

0  Long  weeks  and  months  passed  before  I  regained  some 
gleam  of  consciousness,  but  a  heavy  cloud  still  lay  over  my 


HECTOR'S  STORY.  285 

mind,  and  my  memory  did  not  return.  I  was  alive — that  is  all 
you  can  say,  but  the  past  was  a  blank.  At  times  when  I  felt 
the  bandage  over  my  eye  or  caught  sight  of  myself  in  the  little 
mirror  of  my  sick-room  I  would  ask  myself  puzzled, '  Who  are 
you  and  how  did  you  come  here? '  But  I  found  no  answer, 
I  had  forgotten  my  very  name  and  passed  my  days  in  fruitless 
ponderings.  There  was  no  one  who  could  enlighten  me;  my 
only  attendant  was  aged  and  half-witted,  and  to  the  taciturn 
old  doctor  who  occasionally  visited  me  I  was  a  total  stranger. 

"About  a  year  must  have  passed  in  this  way,  when  the 
veil  began  slowly  to  lift,  your  dear  name,  my  Cecile,  came  back 
to  me  and  with  it  the  full  consciousness  of  my  terrible  loss.  I 
knew  that  I  had  failed  to  save  you,  that  you  had  fallen  a  victim 
to  the  executioner." 

Here  I  broke  in  on  Hector's  story  to  ask  if  Tancred  d'Au- 
bignac  had  never  brought  him  news  of  my  rescue,  but  he  said 
he  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  him  again;  he,  too,  must  have 
been  swept  away  by  the  all-devouring  flood  of  the  Revolution. 

"  By  the  time  my  mind  had  slowly  recovered  its  balance," 
he  continued,  "  and  my  bodily  strength  in  some  degree  re- 
stored, the  Terror  was  over  and  the  Directoire  reigned  in  its 
stead. 

"  At  last  I  was  discharged  from  the  hospital  and  managed 
to  make  my  way  on  foot,  by  slow  and  painful  stages,  into  the 
Vendee.  There  I  took  part  in  the  struggle  against  the  Re- 
publican troops,  but  when  Charette  concluded  peace  with  Gen- 
eral Hoche  and  so  put  an  end  to  the  fighting  I  felt  that  my 
occupation  was  gone.  My  property  was  sequestrated,  the 
chateau  of  my  fathers  in  ruins ;  you,  my  beloved,  were  dead — 
what  was  life  to  me  any  longer  ?  I  saw  the  misery  of  my  down- 
trodden people,  saw  the  hopelessness  of  their  cause;  I  myself 


286  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

was  a  half-blind  beggar,  relations  and  friends  I  had  none — all 
had  been  swallowed  up  in  this  accursed  revolution.  Despair 
took  hold  on  me,  and  thoughts  of  death  by  my  own  hand  be- 
gan to  creep  into  my  mind. 

"  Once  I  thought  of  joining  the  Army  of  the  Allies,  but 
the  reports  that  reached  me  of  the  doings  of  the  Comte 
d'Artois  and  the  other  Princes  in  Coblenz  disgusted  me;  be- 
sides, I  could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  side  with  strangers  and 
fight  against  my  own  country.  I  was  at  the  end  of  my  re- 
sources.— It  was  then  I  first  heard  of  the  Expedition  Bona- 
parte— the  inscrutable  man  who  had  already  begun  to  revive 
the  honour  of  France — was  planning  for  Egypt  and  deter- 
mined to  join  it,  hoping  to  die  there  fighting  for  my  country. 
Laying  aside  my  family  name,  I  entered  myself  simply  as  Hec- 
tor, and  joined  the  4th  Regiment  at  Toulon  as  a  common 
chasseur. 

"  Of  course,  the  idea  of  serving  as  a  private  was  not  alto- 
gether pleasant  to  me,  a  former  officer  of  the  Garde  du 
Corps,  but  I  was  indifferent  to  the  hardships  or  discomforts 
of  this  life — my  hopes  were  all  centred  on  another  world! " 

Need  I  say,  my  Annaliebe,  that  I  had  to  interrupt  my  lover 
somewhat  at  this  point? 

Presently  he  continued:  "  I  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight- 
ing from  the  beginning;  was  made  officer  at  the  Pyramids  and 
Captain  at  Jaffa.  After  the  battle  of  Abukir  Bonaparte  him- 
self nominated  me  Colonel  for  my — as  he  was  pleased  to  say — 
splendid  bravery.  Ah,  it  is  easy  enough  to  be  daring  when 
one  has  nothing  to  bind  one  to  this  world.  But,  as  generally 
happens  in  such  cases,  not  a  bullet  ever  touched  me — I  seemed 
to  bear  a  charmed  life. 

"  At  this,  my  first  personal  encounter  with  the  great  Gen- 


HECTOR  AND  BONAPARTE.  287 

eral,  he  asked  me  with  a  searching  glance, '  Your  name  is  Hec- 
tor?' 'Yes.'  'Only  Hector?'  'Yes/  I  replied.  Then  I 
suddenly  bent  forward  and  whispered — curious  to  see  what  he 
would  say,  for  I  was  quite  indifferent  to  the  possible  results  of 
my  revelation — '  But  it  used  to  be  Hector  de  Trellissac  and  I 
was  one  of  the  Chouans! ' 

"Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  held  out  his  hand. 
'  Mon  brave!  he  answered,  '  that  is  no  detriment  to  you  in  my 
eyes,'  and  with  a  nod  he  passed  on  along  the  front. 

"  Do  you  know,  Cecile,  from  that  day  I  began  to  take  an 
interest  in  life  again  and  to  share  the  enthusiastic  worship  of 
the  Army  for  this  marvellous  young  General  whose  military 
genius  led  it  triumphant  over  the  apparently  insuperable,  till 
his  own  firm  reliance  on  his  star  had  come  to  be  the  unswerv- 
ing belief  of  the  whole  Army. 

"  The  day  before  yesterday  when  the  First  Consul  called 
his  old  officers  of  the  Egyptian  Army  round  him — how  we  had 
missed  him  in  the  last  few  years! — to  distribute  the  decora- 
tions, I  was  amongst  them.  As  he  conferred  the  new  Order 
of  the  Legion  of  Honour  upon  me,  he  took  me  gently  by  the 
ear  and  whispered:  '  Mon  brave,  you  have  relations  in  the  Fau- 
bourg St.  Germain — you  would  do  well  to  go  and  see  them  this 
evening.  You  will  find  a  dear  friend  there  who  will  be  de- 
lighted to  see  you,  saluez-la  de  ma  part.'  He  gave  me  a  friendly 
nod  and  with  a  '  Bonne  chance,  won  colonel! '  passed  on. 

"  For  the  first  moment  I  was  puzzled,  then,  like  a  flash, 
came  the  thought,  the  certainty,  that  you  and  you  alone  could 
be  the  dear  friend  he  alluded  to.  I  did  not  pause  to  wonder 
how  he  came  by  his  knowledge — we  had  always  credited  him 
with  supernatural  powers  of  divination — the  moment  I  was 
free  I  hastened  to  my  cousin's  house  and  there,  sure  enough, 


288  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

I  found  you,  my  darling,  found  my  long-lost,  ever-regretted 
happiness ! " 

Thus  Hector's  story  ended — but,  oh,  Annaliebe,  what 
words  shall  describe  the  joy  that  the  good  God  has  at 
last  poured  out  upon  me  with  so  generous  a  hand!  Not  only 
has  my  dear  love  been  restored  to  me — he  has  remained  as 
true  to  me  as  I  to  him.  Oh,  the  bliss  to  know  that  I  am  still 
his  all  in  all! 

And  how  handsome  is  my  Hector,  and,  in  spite  of  the  fierce 
heat  of  Egypt,  so  strong  and  well !  I  positively  love  that  eye- 
shade  too — does  it  not  remind  me  every  moment  of  what  he 
has  sacrificed  for  me?  And  then  he  had  the  audacity  to  ask  me 
if  I  did  not  think  the  blind  beggar  too  poor  a  match ! 

I  had  to  tell  him  all  about  you,  my  dearest,  best  of  friends ! 
He  could  not  hear  enough  and  bids  me  tell  you  he  means  soon 
to  thank  you  personally  for  having  taken  such  devoted  care  of 
what  the  flatterer  is  pleased  to  call  his  Heart's  Delight. 

While  we  were  still  sitting  together  in  the  garden,  we  were 
joined  by  our  good  Edmee,  who  is  quite  beside  herself  with 
joy  at  our  happiness.  Hector  then  suddenly  enquired  how  the 
Consul  came  to  tell  him  of  my  presence  here,  seeing  that  he 
was  unacquainted  with  me?  "  What,  Colonel !  "  cried  Edmee, 
throwing  up  her  hands,  "  she  has  not  told  you  ?  Why,  your 
fiancee  is  one  of  the  most  influential  women  in  France  just 
now." 

You  may  imagine  my  Hector's  astonishment  when  he 
heard  the  story;  but  he  quite  believes  in  Bonaparte's  sincerity 
in  the  matter,  having  seen  many  proofs  in  Egypt  of  the  man's 
deep-rooted  fatalism. 

As  to  the  future,  my  Annaliebe,  all  we  have  decided  upon 
as  yet  is  that  we  shall  be  married  as  soon  as  possible,  probably 


CECILE'S  MARRIAGE.  289 

a  few  weeks  hence.  But  to  think  that  I  must  forego  the  hap- 
piness of  having  you  with  me  then,  dearest,  though  I  con- 
gratulate you  with  all  my  heart  on  the  reason,  disappoints  me 
more  than  words  can  say. — We  shall  have  to  come  and  see  you 
soon  instead,  that  you  may  convince  yourselves  of  my  un- 
speakable happiness.  Besides,  I  want  Hector  to  know  all  the 
dear  people  who  were  so  heavenly  kind  to  me,  a  forlorn 
stranger. 

Whether  we  shall  settle  at  Mont  Courtot  is  also  an  open 
question  just  yet,  but  one  thing  I  sincerely  hope,  and  that  is 
that  Hector  will  consent  to  leave  the  army.  He  has  done 
enough  for  France  surely.  I  feel  I  can  never  let  him  out  of 
my  sight  again  as  long  as  we  both  live. 

But  our  correspondence,  my  Annaliebe,  shall  in  no  wise 
suffer  by  my  new  happiness.  Our  friendship  is  for  all  time, 
nothing  can  ever  alter  that. 

And  now,  sweetest  friend,  farewell;  you  will  let  the  others 
know  of  the  great  blessing  that  has  been  vouchsafed  to  me. 
Give  them  all  my  dear  love,  and  you,  my  darling,  rejoice  with 
your  happy,  happy 

CECILE. 

The  interesting  family  event  to  which  Cecile  alluded  in  her 
letter  occurred  on  the  nth  of  July,  1802,  when  a  boy  was  born 
to  the  von  Alvenslebens,  who  received  the  name  of  Werner. 
On  the  same  day  Colonel  Hector  de  Trellissac  and  Mademoi- 
selle Cecile  de  Courtot  were  married  in  Paris.  Their  wedding 
present  from  Annaliebe  and  her  husband,  as  described  in  my 
great-grandmother's  diary,  was  a  large  silver  tray  engraved 
with  the  Alvensleben-Loe  crest  and  underneath  it  the  dear  old 
Manor  House  at  Kalbe  with  the  inscription  "  Cecile's  Home." 


290  LETTERS  FROM  THE  BARONESS. 

The  wedding  took  place  very  quietly  in  the  Duchess 
Edmee's  palace,  the  Consul  Bonaparte  being  represented  by 
Monsieur  de  Remusat. 

These  details  are  given  in  a  letter  from  the  Vicomtesse  de 
Trellissac  dated  from  Mont  Courtot  the  I2th  Messidor.  At  the 
close  she  says: 

.  .  .  tVe  are  in  the  seventh  heaven  here,  my  Annaliebe. 
To  see  the  old  familiar  faces  about  me,  to  live  in  the  dear  home 
of  my  childhood,  the  one  love  of  my  life  beside  me — what 
more  could  heart  desire?  Write  me  very  soon  how  you  are  get- 
ting on.  Adieu,  my  Annaliebe,  and  once  more  our  fondest 
congratulations  to  you  and  your  Werner  on  the  arrival  of  the 
dear  little  boy;  also  our  renewed  thanks  for  the  lovely  present. 
Yes,  you  are  right,  my  darling,  the  dear  familiar  house  was 
"  Cecile's  home,"  her  only  one,  for  long,  long  years !  And  we 
two  know  that  each  has  her  home  in  the  other's  heart. 

My  Hector  sends  remembrances  to  you  all;  he  is  so  grate- 
ful for  your  endless  kindness  to  me  and  looks  forward  as 
eagerly  as  I  do  to  meeting  you.  My  love  to  all  the  dear  friends, 
but  especially  to  your  Werner  and  sweet  Phillinchen.  Oh 
Annaliebe,  how  unutterably  happy  is 

Your  CECILE! 

This  letter  is  the  last  of  the  collection.  My  great-grand- 
mother makes  frequent  mention  in  her  diary  of  news  from  her 
friend — for  instance,  on  the  I7th  February  1803  tnat  tne 
Vicomtesse  gave  her  tidings  of  an  expected  happy  event — but 
the  originals  are  missing.  Whether  lost  or  destroyed  by  some 
accident  who  shall  say  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  a  hundred 
years? 


CECILE'S   DEATH.  29! 

On  the  loth  of  June  1803  occurs  the  following  sad  notice 
in  Annaliebe's  diary: 

Yesterday  we  received  the  terrible  news  from  Vicomte  de 
Trellissac  that  Cecile  had  given  birth  on  the  26th  Floreal  to  a 
daughter,  but,  two  days  afterwards,  had  passed  quietly  away. 

God  help  the  poor  husband  to  whom  so  short  a  span  of 
happiness  was  granted— and  me  who  am  thus  bereaved  of  my 
dearest  friend!  Ah,  my  presentiment  was  right— I  felt  I  should 
never  see  her  again.  My  grief  is  too  deep  for  words. 

ANNA  GOTTLIEBE. 

Thus  ends  the  record  of  the  devoted  friendship  that  existed 
between  this  charming  French  lady  and  my  great-grand- 
mother. 

Whether  descendants  of  Cecile  de  Courtot  still  exist  in 
France — whether  the  daughter  alluded  to  in  the  diary  sur- 
vived, or  the  family  of  "  Courtot  de  Cissey,"  to  which  the  well- 
known  War  Minister  belonged,  are  descendants  of  the 
Baroness,  I  was  not  able  to  discover  during  my  researches  in 
France. 

What  remains  of  most  lives  after  a  hundred  years? — A 
handful  of  dust,  a  few  lines  of  writing  on  faded  crumbling 
paper  and  maybe  a  story  or  two  handed  down  from  father  to 
son — nothing  more. 

But  if  these  traditions  last  further  than  into  the  second  gen- 
eration, it  is  because  the  heroes  or  heroines  of  them  were 
really  exceptional  natures.  And  that,  I  think,  was  the  case 
with  the  two  whose  story  I  have  laid  before  the  reader  in  the 
foregoing  pages 


INDEX. 


Abacourt,  Due  d',  79 

Abbeville,  Abbess  of,  280 

Absak,  Eugenie  d',  79 

Aigle,  M.  de  1',  222,  249 

Aix,  Archbishop  of,  277 

Ajaccio,  170 

Almenara,  Hervas  d',  243 

Alvensleben,  von,  family  of,  I 

Alvensleben,  Anna  Gottliebe  von, 
early  married  life,  7,  8;  personal 
appearance,  8;  her  garden,  12;  pre- 
pares to  receive  Baroness  Cecile  de 
Courtot,  15-17;  goes  to  Magdeburg, 
19;  impressions  of  the  Baroness,  20, 
21;  daughter  born  to,  28-30;  birth- 
day, 103,  104;  goes  to  Helgoland, 
121;  to  Berlin,  128;  presented  at 
Court,  130;  gift  of  guitar,  188,  189; 
son  born  to,  289 ;  learns  of  death  of 
Baroness,  291 

Alvensleben,  Busso  von,  29 

Alvensleben,  Sophie  Elizabeth  Philip- 
pine Cecile  von,  28,  29.  102,  133, 
136,  138,  155,  157,  188. 

Alvensleben,  Werner  III.  von,  I,  2 

Alvensleben,  Werner  IV.  von,  1-5,  90, 
95,  102,  132 

Alvensleben-Erxleben,  Philipp  von, 
90-93,  97-102,  194 

Alvonslowe,  I 

Amblas,  Marquise  d',  77,  78 

Andelard,  Abb6  d',  93 

Artois,  Comte  d',  286 

Aschaffenburg  News,  10 

Assas,  Marquise  d',  204 

Aubignac,  Tancred  d',  14,  86,  87, 
285 

Augnier,  Adele,  224 

Augnier,  Eglee,  224 

Azyr,  Vique  d',  76 


Bacciochi,  Prince,  198 

Balsamo,    Giuseppe.     See  Cagllostro, 

Count 
Barras,    Paul  Jean  Fra^ois  Nicolas 

94,    118,    119,    122-125,    134,   139, 

146,  165,  170 
Barre,  Mile,  de  la,  50 
Barry,  Comtesse  du,  78 
Barthelemy,    Frai^ois,    Marquis    de, 

122 

Bassewitz,  Agnes,  99 
Bassewitz,  Countess,  99 
Bassewitz,  Luise,  99 
Bazancourt,  Duchesse  de,  78,  79 
Beauharnais,  Alexandre,  Vicomte  de, 

225 
Beauharnais,    Eugene  de,    226,    232, 

234,  243 

Beauharnais,    Mme.    de.     See    Jose- 
phine 

Beaumarchais,  277 
BenSzeth,  Conseiller  d'etat,  273,  274 
Berliner  Neueste  Nachrichten,  10 
Bernadotte,  General,  169,  232,  244 
Berthier,  General,  176,  223,  234 
Bertin,  Mile.,  the  Queen's  modiste,  56 
Bischofswerder,  34 
Bismarcks,  The,  8 
Bismarck,  Karl  von,  35 
Bismarck-Schonhausen,  Frau  von,  9, 

35,  63 

Bocholtz,  Countess,  153 
Bohemer    and    Bassange,    the   Court 

jewellers,  108,  in 
Bonaparte,  Carlo,  father  of  Napoleon, 

his  wife  and  children,  166 
Bonaparte,    Caroline,    222.     And  see 

Murat 
Bonaparte,  Elise,  sister  of  Napoleon. 

198 

293 


294 


INDEX. 


Bonaparte,  Joseph,  166 

Bonaparte,  Lsetitia,  mother  of  Napo- 
leon. 232 

Bonaparte,  Louis,  222,  236,  237 

Bonaparte,  Lucian,  139,  167,  242,  243, 
268 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon.  See  Napoleon  I. 

Bonaparte,  Pauline,  244.  And  see 
Leclerc 

Borghese,  Princess,  244.  And  see 
Pauline  Bonaparte 

Borstels,  The,  8 

Boucher,  Francois,  the  painter,  76 

Boucher,  the  poet,  76 

Bourbon,  Marie  Louise  de,  45 

Bourbon- Penthievre,  Stanislaus,  Prince 
de,  45 

Brancas,  Edm6e,  Duchesse  de,  88,  94, 

103,    117,    1 18,     T20,    122,    127,    133, 

141, 146,  147,  173,  177-180,  182- 

184,  186,  187,   190,   191,    193,   199, 

200,  202,  205,  213,  214,  2l8,  221, 
224,  226,  227,  229,  236,  239-241, 
246,  248,  249,  254,  266,  273,  276, 
282,  284,  288 

Branchi,  the  real-estate  agent,  240 

Branchue,  Mme.  de,  78 

Branconi,  Maria  Antonia  von  Pessima, 

T5° 

Brandenburg,  Count  and  Countess,  97 
Brandenburg,  Ludwig.  Margrave  of,  I 
Breteuil,  M.  de,  115,  116 
Breze,  Due  de,  50 
Briest,  Herr  von,  (Uncle  Briest,)8,  9, 

16,    17,  28,  62,  95,   104,   121,   152, 

157,  245,  246,  272 
Brissac,  Due  de,  79 
Broglio,  Maurice,  Prince  de,  93 
Brumaire,  The  i8th,  139 
Brunswick,  Duke  of,  4,  150 

Cagliostro,  Count,  107,  108,  in,  112, 

115,  116,  150 

Cambaceres,  the  Consul,  140 
Campan,    Mme.    de,    223,    231,    232, 

274 

Campis,  Mme.  de,  214 
Caprara,  Cardinal,  237 
Casaux,  Mme.  de,  227 
Champanetz.  Marquise  de,  218 
Chappuis,  Mile,  de,  93 
Chappuis  de  la  Combay,  M.  de,  93 
Chateauneuf,  Mme.  de,  78 
Chenier,  Andre  Marie  de,  the  poet,  76 


Christine,  Queen  of  Spain,  234 
Clary,  Desiree,  167,  169,  170 
Clermont,  Bishop  of,  94,  169 
Condorcet,  imprisoned  in  the  Temple, 

76 
Constant,  Napoleon's  valet,  140,  170, 

243,  265 

Contat,  the  actress,  56 
Coulaincourt,  Marquis  de,   209,  211, 

213,  214,  223 

Courtot,  Camille  de,  88,  136,  209 
Courtot,  Cecile,  Baroness  de,  at  Roer- 
monde,  13,  14;  received  by  Frau 
von  Alvensleben,  19;  appearance, 
20,  21 ;  illness,  22-25;  state  °f 
mind,  26,  27;  nurses  Frau  von 
Alvensleben,  28,  30;  insists  on  pay- 
ing board,  30;  wishes  to  sell  jewels, 
31;  refuses  Col.  von  Rauchhaupt, 
38-42;  home  and  parents,  43;  lady- 
in-waiting  to  the  Princess  de  Lam- 
balle,  44-47;  in  Paris,  "dame  de  la 
reine,"  50;  protects  the  Queen  from 
mob  at  Versailles,  59;  journey  to 
Paris.  59;  betrothed  to  Hector  de 
Trellissac,  6i;  to  London,  64;  death 
of  father  and  mother,  68,  69;  re- 
turns to  France,  69;  takes  refuge  in 
the  Temple,  70;  transferred  to  La 
Force,  71;  to  the  Temple,  71;  sees 
the  head  of  Princess  Lamballe  borne 
past  window,  72  ;  illness,  75 ; 
imprisonment,  description  of  life  in 
the  Temple,  76-79;  taken  from 
prison,  79;  the  journey  in  the  cart, 
81;  before  the  tribunal,  condemned, 
82;  in  the  death-cart,  83;  rescued 
by  Hector  de  Trellissac,  84-86; 
escapes  to  Roermonde,  86,  87;  life 
with  the  Alvenslebens,  90;  sale  of 
her  jewels,  90,  92,  95;  sympathy 
from  Queen  of  Prussia,  101 ;  her 
fire-screen,  104;  account  of  affair 
of  the  Queen's  necklace,  105-117; 
goes  to  Helgoland,  121;  to  Berlin, 
128;  on  Louis  XVI.  and  Marie 
Antoinette,  135;  studies  Latin,  136- 
138;  seeks  to  regain  estates,  136; 
leaves  Kalbe,  147,  148;  at  marriage 
of  Princess  of  Hesse,  150-155;  in 
Strasburg,  158-162;  in  Zabern,  163, 
164;  in  Metz,  165-168;  in  Chalons, 
169;  in  Paris,  172;  on  prices  and 
life  in  Paris,  173,  174;  at  the 


INDEX. 


295 


theatre,  175,  176;  removes  to  the 
Palais  Brancas,  177;  drives  about 
Paris,  180-183;  to  her  mother's 
grave,  183,  184;  visits  the  Temple 
and  La  Force,  186,  187  ;  at  re- 
ception of  Marquise  de  Montesson, 
190-192;  impressions  of  Mme.  de 
Stael  and  of  Marquis  Luchesini, 
193-195 ;  at  the  parade,  impressions 
of  Bonaparte,  199-201;  at  Long- 
champs,  201;  anecdotes  of  Talley- 
rand, 203-205;  interview  with 
Talleyrand,  205-211;  her  costume, 
213,  214;  on  the  carnival,  217;  on 
Germans  in  Paris,  218;  on  French 
literature,  218;  on  Garnerin's 
balloon,  219;  her  day  with  Jose- 
phine at  Malmaison,  221-243;  on 
life  in  Paris,  246-250;  audience 
with  Napoleon,  252-262;  recognises 
in  Napoleon  the  schoolboy  who  had 
saved  her  life  and  whom  she  had 
crowned  with  laurel,  256-259;  her 
property  restored  by  Napoleon,  260; 
journey  to  the  Vendee,  270-273;  sec- 
ond audience  with  Napoleon,  273- 
276;  at  Notre  Dame,  on  re-establish- 
ment of  Church,  276-278;  meets 
again  Hector  de  Trellissac,  281-283 ; 
her  marriage  with  him,  289  ;  her 
death  two  days  after  birth  of  a 
daughter,  291 
Cumberland,  Duke  of,  103,  267 

Dadigne,  Sieur  de,  141 
Dampmartin,  Colonel  de,  93 
Dancing,  247 
Dember,  domain  of,  I 
Denis,  Baroness,  93 
Denon,  Director  of  the  Mint,  215,  216 
Despreaux,  milliner  to  Josephine,  179 
Despreaux  and  Leroi,  their  Magazin 

de  Modes,  213 
Diamond  Necklace,  Affair  of  the,  57, 

105-117 

Diderot,  Denis,  44,  167 
Dino,  Duke  of,  212 
Donhoff,  Countess  Sophie,  96,  97 
Duchesnois,  Mile.,  the  actress,  268 
Ducos,  the  Consul,  139 
Dugazon,  Mme.,  175 
Duguesclin,  the  "  mystificateur, "  280 
Dumouriez,  General,  4,  n 
Duplan,  the  hairdresser,  214 


Duroc,  General,  236,  240,  243 

Ephraim,  Court  jeweller,  92 
Estaing,  Mile,  d',  50 
Eugenie,  234 

Fashions,  126,  151,  152,  197,  198,202, 

214,  247,  249,  250,  269 
Floquet,  Commandant,  70 
Florian,  the  poet,  76 
Floym,  Count,  95 
Fontanges,  Marquise  de,  75 
Fontenay,  Mme.  de,  246 
Fouche,  Minister  of  Police,  232,  268 
Frascati's,  249 
Fructidor,  The  i8th,  122 
Frederick  the  Great,  95,  96 
Frederick  William  II.,  2,    92,  93,  95, 

96,  121 
Frederick  William  III.,  87,  97,  128- 

132,  135 

Garnerin,  his  balloon,  219 

Genevais,  Chateau,  46 

Gerard,  his  portrait  of  Josephine,  227 

Germon,  Mme.,  Josephine's  dress- 
maker, 213 

Gervais,  Mme.,  nurse  of  Cecile  de 
Courtot,  19,  68,  69.  And  see  Ma- 
deleine 

Girardin,  his  conversation  with  Na- 
poleon, 145 

Gleim,  the  poet,  8,  29 

Grant,  Mme.,  134,  192,  205.  And 
see  Mme.  Talleyrand 

Guiche,  Due  de,  145 

Guiche,  Mme.  de,  215 

Hamelin,    Mme.,    178,  224,  231,  232, 

241 

Harnish,  the  jeweller,  95 
Haugwitz.    his  influence  on  Prussia, 

198 

Hauteville,  Laura  d',  79 
Hesse,  Princess  of,  her  marriage,  147, 

I5°- i 5 5 
Hippolite,  servant  of  Princess  de  Lam  - 

balle,  69 

Hoche,  General,  165,  285 
Holland,  Lord,  267 
Hortense  (Eugenie  Hortense  de  Beau- 

harnais),    178,    195,   222,   223,  231, 

235-237,  238,  240,  243 
Humboldt,  Wilhelm  von,  131 


296 


INDEX. 


Ingenheim,  Count,  103 
"Iphigenia  in  Tauris,"  247 
Isabey,  the  painter,  231,  232 
Isenschnibbe,  domain  of,  i 

Josephine  (Marie  Josephe  Rose  Tascher 
de  la  Pagerie),  123,  142,  145,  147, 
165,  166,  170,  179,  192,  193,  195, 
209,  210,  213-215,  221-243,  246, 
263-265,  273 

Jourdan,  General,  32,  33 

Junot,  Mme.,  224 

Kalbe,  family  seat  of  the  Alvenslebens, 

i,  2,  5,  6 

Kalitschef,  Prince,  173 
Kemble,  the  actor,  267 
Klotze,  domain  of,  i 
Kockeritz,  Adjutant- General  von,  128, 

129,  131,  I32,  154,  194 
Kroecher,  Frau  von  (Aunt  Kroecher), 

8,  28,  62,    104,   151,  156,  157,  202, 

245,  246 

Kroechers,  von,  The,  i,  8 
Kurland  and  Sagan,  Princess  of,  212 

Lafayette,  55,  60 

Lafitte,  M.  de,  79 

La  Force,  prison  of,  71,  186,  187 

Lamarque,  Comte  de,  60 

Lamballe,  Marie  Therese  Louise  de 
Savoie-Carignan,  Princesse  de,  13, 
44-47,  49,  55-  57,  59,  63,  64,  68- 
73,  101,  104,  106,  109,  130,  132, 

155,  275 

Lambesc,  Prince,  64 

Lamotte-Valois,  the  adventuress,  107, 
108,  no,  in,  114,  116 

Langenn,  Herr  von,  101 

Lannes,  Mme.,  201 

La  Saque,  Mme.,  13,  14 

Laurier,  Baron  Leon,  124 

Lauriston,  Mile,  de,  224 

Laval,  Mile,  de,  50,  109 

Lavallade,  Desiree  de,  79 

Lebrun,  the  Consul,  140 

Leclerc,  General,  175,  176,  240,  244 

Leclerc,  Pauline,  240.  And  see  Pau- 
line Bonaparte 

Lenormand,  the  fortune-teller,  265 

Leonard,  the  Queen's  hairdresser,  56 

Leroy,  milliner  to  Josephine,  179 

Liancourt,  Due  de,  280 

Liancourt,  Duchesse  de,  70 


Liancourt,  Mile,  de,  50 

Lichtenau,  Countess,  92,  97,  98,  126 

Loe,  Anna  Gottliebe  von,  3,  4,  5.  And 
see  Alvensleben 

Loe,  Johann  Moritz  von,  3,  5 

Lombard,  his  influence  on  Prussia,  198 

Londonderry,  Bishop  of,  126 

Longchamps,  201 

Louis  XIV.,  54 

Louis  XV.,  54 

Louis  XVI.,  54,  55,  63,  72,  75,  107, 
in,  114-116,  135 

Louis  XVIL,  51,  183 

Louis  XVIII.,  141,  142,  210,  251 

Louis  Joseph,  Dauphin,  51,  57 

Louis  Philippe,  45,  note 

Louvre,  The,  267 

Lucai,  Egl6e  de,  224,  225 

Luchesini,  Marquis,  194,  195,  198,  212 

Luderitz  family,  8 

Luderitz,  Friedrich  von,  29 

Ludvvig,  Prince,  loo,  103 

Luise,  Queen  (wife  of  Frederick  Wil- 
liam III.),  130-132,  135,  151,  231. 
And  see  Mecklenburg-  Sir -elitz 

Luys,  Mme.  de,  124 

Madeleine,  nurse  of  Cecile  de  Courtot, 

183,  184.     And  see  Gervais 
Magnier,  of  the  Mint,  215 
Maillard,  the  Revolutionist,  58,  82 
Mainz,  159 

Malmaison,  221,  222,  234,  241 
Malsburg,  Baroness  von  der,  154 
Mara,  Mme.,  the  singer,  93,  94,  267 
Marat,  Jean  Paul,  125 
Marengo,  140 
Maria  Theresa,  107 
Marie  Antoinette,     Josephe    Jeanne, 

48-60,  63-72,  75,  76,  106-117,  135, 

274 

Marie  Louise,  of  Austria,  265 
Marie  Therese,  Princess,  51 
Mark,  Count  von  der,  93 
Mark,  Countess  von  der,  102,  103 
Marly-le-Roi,  204 
Massenbach,  General  von,  34 
Masson,  Herr,  101 
Matuscka,  Count,  101 
Mecklenburg  -  Strelitz,       Friederike, 

Princess  of,  100,  103 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  Luise  of,  87,  97, 

98.     And  see  Luise,  Queen 
Mehul,  £tienne  Henri,  266 


INDEX. 


297 


Meiningen,  Duke  of,  152 

Mercier,  Abb6  de,  78 

Miakowski,  Herr  von,  102 

Mirabeau,  60,  133 

Mollendorf,  General  von,  32,  33 

Moltke,  Fraulein  von,  98 

Montarsier,  Mme.,  165 

Montasin,  Demoiselle,  56 

Mont  Courtot,  264,  270-273,  289,  290 

Montespan,  Mme.  de,  45 

Montesquieu,  Comtesse,  280 

Montesson,  Marquise  de,  94,  124,  126, 
141,  146,  190-193,  195,  258 

Montgolfier,  his  offer  to  supply  ma- 
chinery for  Versailles,  204 

Moreau,  General,  140 

Mortemar,  Clothilde  de,  73,  75,  80 

Mtiller,  Deacon,  10 

Murat,  Caroline,  231,  237-239.  And 
see  Caroline  Bonaparte 

Murat,  General,  139,  222,  238-240, 
244 

Murray,  Eliza,  223 

Napoleon  I.  (Napoleon  Bonaparte), 
119,  120;  on  the  1 8th  Fructidor, 
122;  returns  from  Italy,  123;  anec- 
dotes of  school  and  early  military 
life,  124,  125;  his  order  of  the  day 
to  the  Army  of  Italy,  125,  126;  in 
Egypt,  134;  return,  138;  in  Paris, 
First  Consul,  139;  his  decrees,  his 
victories,  140;  attitude  toward  the 
Bourbons,  141,  142;  his  advances 
toward  the  old  nobility,  143;  re- 
establishes the  Church,  144;  on 
music  in  the  Tuileries  chapel,  145 ; 
his  acquaintance  with  Josephine, 
165,  1 66;  his  parents,  family,  and 
home  in  Corsica,  166;  story  of  his 
refusal  by  Desiree  Clary,  167,  170; 
portrait  by  Greuze,  177,  178;  his 
promise  to  the  employes  at  St. 
Quentin,  179;  his  remark  to  Mme. 
Talleyrand,  192;  his  manner.  192, 
193;  at  the  opera,  195;  attempt  on 
his  life,  195,  196;  his  words  to  the 
singers,  196;  and  to  Josephine,  196; 
at  St.  Cloud,  197;  at  the  parade, 
199-201 ;  dislike  of  Talleyrand,  205 ; 
Talleyrand's  remarks  on,  210;  por- 
trait by  David,  215,  217;  anecdote 
of,  at  the  Mint,  215-217;  attempt 
to  poison,  223;  Josephine's  anxiety 


for,  228;  anecdote  of,  in  the  Italian 
wars,  231;  remarks  on  the  Ven- 
deans,  232,  233;  affected  by  sound 
of  bells,  241,  242;  intimacy  with 
Talma,  248;  his  audiences,  253; 
description  of,  254;  interview  with 
Cecile  de  Courtot,  254-262;  recog- 
nizes in  her  the  girl  whose  life  he 
had  saved  and  who  had  crowned 
him  with  laurel  at  school  in  Brienne, 
256-259;  his  fatalism,  259,  260, 
265,  288;  his  confidences,  261;  his 
mysticism  made  use  of  by  Jose- 
phine, 263 ;  second  audience  to  Ce- 
cile de  Courtot,  273-276;  at  Notre 
Dame,  on  re-establishment  of 
Church,  277,  278;  holds  review  at 
Tuileries,  279;  conversations  with 
Hector  de  Trellissac,  287 

Napoleon  III.,  234,  243 

Navaillac,  Marquise  de,  93-95,  101, 
118,  129 

Nertz,  Pastor,  10,  16,  188,  245 

Neufville,  Comte  de,  141 

Nikolai,  Doctor,  121 

Noailles,  Adelaide  de,  50,  53,  59,  109 

Noailles,  Mme.  de,  50,  279,  280 

Noailles,  Victor  de,  280,  283 

Notre  Dame,  276-278 

Oliva,  the  courtesan,  no,  112 

Orleans,  Louis,  Due  d',  88 

Orleans,  Louis  Philippe  Joseph,  Due 

d',  (Philippe  figalite,)  45,  57,  59, 

70,  112 

Orleans,  Pierre  Philippe  d',  46,  note 
Overdiek,  estate  of.  3,  5 

Paul,  the  Czarewitch,  101 

Penthievre,  Due  de,  46,  note 

Penthievre,  Jean  Marie  de  Bourbon, 
Due  de,  45,  73 

Permon,  Charles,  256 

Permon,  Laure,  256 

"Phedre,"268 

Philippe  Egalite,  206.  And  see  Or- 
leans 

Pichegru,  Charles,  122 

Pitt,  William,  64 

Place  de  Greve,  181 

Place  de  la  Concorde,  180 

Place  de  la  Revolution,  181 

Place  des  Victoires,  180 

Place  Royale,  180 


298 


INDEX. 


Place  Vendome,  181 

Poix,  Prince  da,    192,   205,   222,    238 

239,  246,  254,  268,  280 
Pozzo  di  Borgo,  166,  170 
Pralins,  Anne  de,  43 

Rauchhaupt,    Albrecht  Vollrath  von, 

12,  15,  18,  32-42,  87,  96 
Recamier,  Mme.,  144,  note,  170,  267 
Remusat,  M.  de,  253,  276 
Remusat,  Mme.  de,  224,  265 
Retrazet,  estate  of,  264 
Reventlow,  Countess,  99 
Rietz,  Frau  von,  93,  97 
Robespierre,    Maximilien,     118,    182, 

184,  185,  206 
Roches   Baritaud,    Claude    de  Beau- 

harnais,  Comte  des,  225 
Roermonde,  13 
Rohan,  Cardinal,   106-108,    110-116, 

164 
Rohan  Guemenee,  Chateau  of,    163, 

164 

Roucher,  M.  de,  79 
Rousseau,  44,  55,  167,  267 
Roustan,  Bonaparte's  Mameluke,  200 

Sabatier,  Mme.  de,  280 
Sachsen-Teschen,  Marie-Christine  of, 

112-117 

Sacuval,  the  actress,  56 
St.  Cloud,  273 
Saint-Paterne,  Chevalier,  93 
Saint-Ygnon,  Chevalier,  93 
Saldern,  Mme.  von,  101 
Salm-Kyrburg,  Prince  of,  225 
Saque,  Mme.  la,  87 
Savary,  Mme.,  214,  224 
Saxe,  Chevalier  de,  126 
Saxe,  Marechal  de,  159 
Schilden,  Fritz  von,  98 
Schlippenbach,  Albert,  101 
Schlippenbach,  Countess,  101 
Schlotheim,  Mme.,  150,  152,  153,  155 
Schreiber,  his  "  guillotine  ambulante," 

159,  160 

Schulenburg,  Countess,  99-101 
Segur,  Vicomte  de,  143 
Sieyes,  the  Consul,  139,  144 
Solms-Braunfels,  Prince,  103 
Spiegel,  Frau  von,  150 
Stagl-Holstein,  Baron  de,  194 
Stael,  Mme.  de,  87,  134,  193,  194 


Stainville,  Marquis  de,  52 
Stolberg-Stolberg,  Count,  101,  102 
Strasburg,  158-162 
Strelitz,  Princess  of,  100 

Talhuet,  Adele  de,  224,^225,  232,  233 

273 

Talhuet,  Mme.  de,  232,  233 
Tallien,  Mme.,  165,  224,  250 
Talleyrand,  Edmond  de,  212 
Talleyrand,    Mme.,    210,   211.     And 

see  Mme.  Grant 
Talleyrand-Perigord,  Charles  Maurice 

de,   133,   134,   179,   192,   197,  203- 

212,  253,  262,  275 

Talma,    Francois  Joseph,  the  trage- 
dian, 217,  247,  248,  250,  251 
Temple,  The,  70,  71,  76-79,  183,  186, 

187 

Theatre  Feydeau,  175 
Theatre  Fran$ais,  268 
Theatre  Royal,  247 
Therese,  Princess,  280 
Thierry,  M.,  102 
Thierry,  the  hatter,  202 
Tollendal,  Lady,  280 
Torget,  the  advocate,  115,  116 
Toulouse,  Comte  de,  45 
Tourzel,  Mme.  de,  51 
Trellissac,  Chateau,  272,  273 
Trellissac,    Hector,  Vicomte   de,    14, 

43,  44,    61,    64,    84-86,    187,  208, 

275,  279,  281-291 
Trenk,  Baron,  225 
Tuileries,  252,  253 

Valencay,  Duke  of,  212 

Valette,  Mme.  de,  226 

Varennes,  Marquis  de,  78 

Vendee,  270-274 

Viereck,  Fraulein  von,  98 

Vinci,  the  actress,  267 

Visconti,  Mme.,  268 

Volnay,  M.  de,  211 

Voltaire,  44,  267 

Voss,  Frau  von,  98-100,  129-231 

Vultejus,  Herr,  136,  167,  230,  250 

Willoun,  Doctor,  267 
Wollner,  the  singer,  97 

Zabern,  163,  164 


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1  1  th  Impression  of  the  Sequel  to 
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HOPE'S  RUPERT   OF  HENTZAU 

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OTHER  BOOKS  BY  ANTHONY  HOPE 

With  frontispieces  by  RACKHAM,  RUSSKIL,  and  WBCHCLBR.     iSmo, 
75  cents  each. 

INDISC»ETJON  OF  THE  DUCHBSS,  iath  Impression. 
THB  DOLLY  DIALOGUES,  loth  Impression. 
A  CHANGE  OF  AIR,  qtk  Impression. 

A  MAN  or  MARK,  Qtk  Impression. 

SPORT  ROYAL,  ETC.,  4!  h  Impression. 


HENRY  HOLT  &  CO. 


JOHN  THISSELTON. 

BY  Miss  MARIAN  BOWER.     121110.     $1.50. 

A  dramatic  love-story  of  to-day,  the  scenes  of  which  are 
laid  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 

Christian  Register  :  "The  idea  of  the  plot  is  a  good  one; 
and  the  story  holds  one's  interest  to  the  end." 

Boston  Transcript :  "  There  is  good  drawing  of  character 
and  some  clever  dialogue." 

Chicago  Evening  Post :  "A  diversified  set  of  human  types, 
so  deftly  sketched  that  little  plot  is  needed  to  keep  the  reader 
turning  the  pages  with  interest  from  beginning  to  end." 

Literary  World  (Boston):  "Well  conceived  and  ably  exe- 
cuted, it  has  an  increasing  interest  as  the  tale  progresses." 

Chicago  Times-Herald :  "  The  characters  are  well  drawn." 

San  Francisco  Argonaut:  "A  novel  of  character  and  develop- 
ing experience  with  some  notable  qualities." 

Evening  Wisconsin:  "  An  excellent  character-study." 
Louisville  Courier  :  "  Well  told  and  has  a  pleasant  ending." 

Philadelphia  Press:  "It  is  written  with  a  good  deal  of 
dramatic  force." 

LONDON  NOTICES  : 

Telegraph:  "A  novel  of  very  strong  interest  and  much 
good  work." 

Nevus  :  "A  novel  of  singular  brilliancy  and  promise.  .  .  . 
A  set  of  strikingly  vivid  personalities.  .  .  .  The  reader  can 
always  enjoy  the  sensation  of  not  knowing  what  will  be  the 
next  development.  .  .  .  The  book  is  full  of  power." 

Chronicle:  "  The  author  has  a  quite  unusual  turn  of  dra- 
matic imagination.  ...  A  striking  piece  of  work." 

St.  James*  Gazette  :  "  Very  clever  and  well  written." 

HENRY    HOLT    &   CO.      ee 

II.  *OI 


"  One  of  the  most  important  books  on  Music  that  'fiat  ever 
ieen  published."— W.  J.  HENDERSON,  Musical  Critic  of  N.  Y. 
TIMES. 

LAVIGNAC'S  MUSIC  AND  MUSICIANS 


Translated  by  WILLIAM  MARCHANT.  Edited  by  H.  E.  KREHBIRL. 
With  94  illustrations  and  510  examples  in  musical  notation,  ad 
Edition.  504  pp.  8vo.  $3.00. 

Dial  :  "  If  one  had  to  restrict  his  musical  library  to  a  single  volume,  we 
doubt  whether  he  could  dp  better  than  select  the  work  called  '  Music  and 
Musicians.'  .  .  .  We  find  in  this  new  volume  the  same  lucidity  of  exposi- 
tion, the  same  economy  of  arrangement,  and  the  same  comprehensiveness, 
...  in  fact,  although  rot  in  form,  a  veritable  encyclopaedia  of  music, 
and  will  be  found  equally  satisfactory  as  a  work  of  reference  and  as  a 
text-book  for  the  actual  study  of  counterpoint,  the  structure  of  instru- 
ments, the  history  of  music,  and  the  physical  basis  of  musical  production. 
A  few  supplementary  pages,  by  Mr.  H.  E.  Krehbiel,  add  American  com- 
posers to  M.  Lavignac's  Hit,  and  put  the  finishing  touch  of  usefulness 
upon  a  work  which  we  cordially  recommend  to  both  students  and  general 
readers." 

"It  is  impossible  to  speak  too  highly  of  this  volume"  (Literary 
Review,  Boston).  —  "The  most  comprehensive  reference-work  on  music 
published  in  a  single  volume  and  accessible  to  readers  of  English  " 
(Review  of  Reviews).  —  "An  encyclopaedia  from  which  all  manner  of 
curious  facts  may  be  drawn"  (Literary  World).  —  "A  musical  library 
in  itself  "  (Chicago  Tribune").  —  "A  cyclopaedia  of  knowledge  concern- 
ing his  art"  (Christian  Register).  —  "It  adds  a  great  deal  that  the 
student  of  music  is  not  likely  to  get  elsewhere  "  (Springfifld  Re- 
publican). —  "The  most  complete  and  perfect  work  of  its  kind"  (The 
Home  Journal,  New  York).  —  "  For  the  musical  student  and  music  teacher 
invaluable  if  not  indispensable  "  (Buffalo  Commercial).  —  "  He  has  ap- 
portioned his  pages  with  rare  good  judgment  "  (Churchman).  —  "  It  is  of 
all  things  thorough  "  (Brooklyn  Eagle).—"  There  is  nothing  superfi- 
cial about  it  "  (Hartford  Courant).—"  it  has  a  reliability  and  authority 
which  give  it  the  highest  value  "  (Chicago  Tribune).  —  "  Distinctly  scien- 
tific "  (Providence  Journal).  —  "  It  seems  to  have  been  his  desire  to  let  no 
interesting  topic  escape.  .  .  .  The  wonder  is  that  those  parts  of  the  book 
which  ought  to  be  dry  are  so  readable.  ...  A  style  which  can  fairly 
be  described  as  fascinating  "  \N.  Y.  Times).  —  "  Free  from  superfluous 
technicalities"  (Providence  Journal).—"'  He  has  covered  the  field  with 
French  clarity  and  German  thoroughness  "  (Sfr  ing  Ji  eld  Republican). 
—  "  Not  too  technical  to  be  exceedingly  useful  and  enjoyable  to  every 
intelligent  reader  "  (Hartford  Courant).—"  Lightened  with  interesting 
anecdotes"  (Brooklyn  Eagle).  —  "He  writes  brilliantly  :  even  the  laziest 
or  most  indifferent  will  find  that  he  chains  the  attention  and  makes  a 
perusal  of  the  history  of  music  a  delightful  recreation  "  (N.  Y.  Home 
Journal). 

"  Capitally  indexed.  .  .  .  Mr.  Marchant  has  done  his  hard  task  of  trans- 
lating exceedingly  well  "  (Transcript).—".  .  .  The  pictures  of  the  instru- 
ments are  clear  and  helpful  "  (N.  Y.  Times).  —  "An  unusually  handsome 
book"  (Musical  Record).  —  "This  superb  volume"  (The  Watchman).  — 
"This  handsome  volume,  .  .  .  elegantly  printed  on  the  best  of  paper, 
and  the  illustrations  are  numerous"  (Christian  Register).  —  "An  excellent 
translator  "  (Providence  Journal).—  "  Well  translated  "  (School  and  Home 
Education).  —  "  The  translation  is  excellent;  .  .  .  handsomely  bound  M 
(Home  Journal), 


HENRY  HOLT  &  CO., 


2d    Impression  of 

THE  FORTUNE  OF  WAR 

BY  Miss  ELIZABETH   BARROW.     i2mo.     $1.25. 

A  vivid  romance,  the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  New  York 
City  during  the  British  Occupation  in  the  Revolution. 

N.  Y.  Times  Saturday  Review:  "The  story  is  a  good  one, 
the  historical  data  accurate,  and  the  ways  and  manners  of  the 
period  are  cleverly  presented.  .  .  .  The  love  plot  is  absorb- 
ing, and  will  be  found  by  many  readers  even  more  fascinating 
than  the  faithful  reproduction  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  time.  ...  It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  this  book  vies  in 
excellence  with  some  of  the  historical  romances  which  have 
caused  more  general  comment.  No  doubt  it  will  gradually 
grow  into  a  larger  popularity. 

The  Outlook :  "Miss  Elizabeth  Harrow  has  done  her  work 
not  only  well,  but  delightfully  well." 

The  Independent :  "A  short  tale,  and  a  very  good  one.  .  .  . 
A  story  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  romantic  to  a  degree  and 
very  charmingly  told." 

Chicago  Times-Herald :  "  Another  tale  of  the  time  of  Wash- 
ington, but  one  that  is  more  deserving  both  of  popular  and 
critical  appreciation  than  some  of  the  much-vaunted  financial 
successes." 

Springfield  Republican :  "It  gives  a  good  picture  of  New 
York  City  as  it  was  in  the  eighteenth  century.  .  .  .  The  story 
is  agreeable  reading." 

Hartford  Courant :  "She  has  done  good  work  in  her 
romance  ;  ...  it  is  told  in  a  very  attractive  way.  .  .  .  The 
book  is  decidedly  one  that  will  entertain." 

Christian  Register :  "Miss  Barrow  has  been  successful  in 
depicting  the  condition  of  New  York  City  at  the  time  the 
British  were  quartered  there.  .  .  It  is  a  bright,  pleasant  tale." 

The  Churchman:  "The  book  furnishes  an  interesting  side- 
light upon  the  estimation  in  which  the  Americans  were  held 
by  the  upper  classes  of  the  British  through  the  greater  part  of 
the  Revolutionary  struggle." 

HENRY  HOLT  &  CO.      2 

xii,  1900 


SEIGNOBOS'S  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  EUROPE 

1814-96.       Translation  edited  by  Prof.  SILAS  M.  MACVANK,  of 

Harvard.     860  pp.     8vo.     $3.00,  net, 
Prof.  Macvane  has  added  to  and  strengthened  the  chapters  on 

England,  and  otherwise  edited  the  book  for  American  students, 

adding  new  titles  in  the  bibliographies  and  an  index. 

The  Nation  :  "  Of  the  political  development  of  each  European 
country  since  the  Congress  of  Vienna  he  gives  us  a  summary  which 
is  clear  and  synchronous.  .  .  .  He  states  with  unfailing  impartiality 
the  principles  of  political  sects  and  parties.  .  .  .  Remarkably  dis- 
tinct and  vital,  instead  of  the  desiccated  pith  which  epitomizers  often 
purvey.  .  .  .  Remarkable  for  its  range,  its  precision  of  statement, 
and  its  insight,  an  important  work  on  what  must  be  to  all  of  us  the 
most  important  period  of  recorded  time." 

WALKER'S  DISCUSSIONS  IN  ECONOMICS  AND 
STATISTICS 

By  the  late  General  FRANCIS   A.  WALKER.     Edited   by  Prof. 

DAVIS  R.  DEWEY.    With  portrait.    2  vols.   8vo.    $6.00,  net  special. 

Important  papers  on  Finance,  Taxation,   Money,    Bimetallism, 

Economic  Theory,  Statistics,  National  Growth,  Social  Economics, 

etc.    The  author's  untimely  death  prevented  him  from  carrying  out 

his  intention  of  himself  bringing  them  together  in  book  form. 

Uniform  with  th*  above^  WALKER'S  DISCUSSIONS  IN  EDUCATION. 
8vo.     $3.00,  net  special. 
Circular  of  others  of  General  Walker's  works  on  application. 

THOMPSON'S  MEMOIR  OF  DEAN  H.  G.  LIDDELL 

By  HENRY  L.  THOMPSON,  Vicar  of  St.  Mary's,  Oxford.  Illus- 
trated. 8vo.  $5.00,  net  special. 

A  biography  of  the  great  lexicographer  of  Liddell  &  Scott's  Dic- 
tionary, by  his  life-long  friend.  The  volume  contains  four  fine 
portraits,  several  views  of  important  places  in  Oxford,  and  some 
fac-similes  of  drawings  by  Liddell  himself. 

A''.  Y.  Tribune:  "Extremely  interesting  .  .  .  impressive.  .  .  . 
It  contains  some  attractive  anecdotes  of  the  Dean's  contemporaries 
^including  Thackeray,  Ruskin,  Canning,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
his  boyhood).  .  .  .  The  impression  that  remains  after  a  perusal  of 
his  biography  is  that  of  an  inspiring  and  even  lovable  man.  .  .  .  He 
moves  through  Mr.  Thompson's  pages  the  ideal  scholar,  the  type  of 
all  that  is  most  elevated  and  most  enduring,  if  not  most  brilliant  in 
the  life  of  the  English  Universities." 

RAE'S  RICHARD  BRINSLEY  SHERIDAN 

A  biography,  by  W.  ERASER   RAE.    With  an  introduction  by 

Sheridan's  great-grandson,  the  Marquess  of  Dufferin  and  Ava. 

With  portraits^  etc.     z  vols.    8vo.     $7.00 

The  Dial :  "  His  book  at  once  takes  its  place  as  the  standard  one 
on  the  subject — the  one  in  which  the  real  Sheridan,  as  contradis- 
tinguished from  the  half-mythical  Sheridan  of  previous  memoirs,  is 
portrayed  with  all  attainable  clearness.  To  release  this  brilliant  and 
singularly  winning  and  human  figure  from  the  region  of  largely 
calumnious  fiction  was  a  worthy  task." 

Review  of  Reviews  :  "  The  best  biography  of  Sheridan  in  ex- 
istence." 

HENRY  HOLT  &  CO.    * 
*•« 


BOOKS  ABOUT  FRANCE 

TAINE'S  JOURNEYS  THROUGH  FRANCE 

Being  Impressions  of  the  Provinces,    llld.    Large  i2ino,  $2.50. 

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these  brilliant  notes  of  travel  more  of  the  peculiarities  of  the 
people  who  inhabit  the  various  towns  and  cities,  and  of  the 
cities  themselves,  than  from  any  other  work  with  which  we  are 
acquainted."—  Boston  Transcript. 

TAINE'S  NOTES  ON  PARIS 

The  Life  and  Opinions  of  M.  Frederic  Graindorge.    Translated, 
with  Notes,  by  JOHN  AUSTIN  STEVENS.    Large  izmo,  $2.50. 

TAINE'S  ANCIENT  REGIME 

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TAINE'S  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

Translated  by  JOHN  DURAND.    3  vols.,  $7.50. 

TAINE'S  MODERN  REGIME 


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TAINE'S  MODERN  REGIME 

Vol.  II.    Large  i2tno,  $2.50. 

LADY   JACKSON'S    OLD    PARIS;    ITS    COURTS    AND 
LITERARY  SALONS  ^mo.ix.so. 

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test which  is  refreshing.  It  is  an  admirable  resuml  of  the 
period."—  Literary  World. 

LADY  JACKSON'S  OLD  REGIME.  COURT,  SALONS,  AND 
THEATRES  j2mo,  $1.50. 

ADOLPHUS'S  SOME  MEMORIES  OF  PARIS 

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"  The  most  noteworthy  chapters  deal  with  the  agony  of  the 

great  city  in  1870-71.    A  vivid  description  is  given.  '—Nation, 

DABNEY'S  CAUSES  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

izmo,  $1.25. 

YONGE'S  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE 

A  compact  and  reliable  history  (to  1879)  by  the  popular  novellste 
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LACOMBE'S  GROWTH  OF  A  PEOPLE 

Translated  by  Ltwis  A.  STIMSON.    i6mo,  8oc.  net. 

HENRY  HOLT  &  CO, 


I 


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"          °" 


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